Friday 4 December 2009

Barbara I Gongini - Regular, Irregular and Pieces

All images by Julie Helquist

Barbara Ì Gongini caught my eye when putting together the pieces for Noush Skaugen’s album shoot back in September. Now not only do I find out Gongini is yet another young designer committed to sustainability, but also one who believes in interdisciplinary co-operation with other artists within music, photography and film. She describes the SS10 collection, which is at this stage is 70% sustainable, by saying ‘it has a wide scope within the three segments Regular, Irregular, and Pieces; Regular is the basic, timeless and conceptual series, directed at both segments. Irregular and Pieces include moderate as well as ultra-feminine preludes, with great shape-diversities placed in the latter part of the category.’ This is then enhanced by the muted colour palette which moves from light to dark, restricted to black, white, grey, sand and blue. In fact, just to view the Look Book (below), due to this progression throughout the collection of shape, style and colour, is amazing alone. It is very Nordic in feel; raw, edgy, gritty yet very simple. However, it would not be out of place in London, and I would happily own every piece in this collection.

Her Press Release states the SS10 Collection is a correlation between functional clothing and shape-experiments, with multi-functional clothes and recycling as the two main ingredients in the construction, seeking to broaden the usability of each item, thus promoting the sustainability. I think, with particular reference to a correlation between functional clothing and shape-experiments, she has been highly successful. The multi-functional aspect, wearing pieces in a number of ways, is also another interesting approach to sustainability. As part of ‘Next Generation: Bright Green Fashion’, a collaborative project organized by the Creative Forum Copenhagen and the Berlin-based designers’ network CREATE Berlin, a forum where ten young and talented designers present their vision of sustainability in fashion design, Barbara is helping to build an international creative network. It aims to share knowledge in the field of fashion design and to access new potential markets and to discover ways of implementing sustainable designs into existing and future collections. Their ultimate goal is 100% sustainable products.

Thursday 3 December 2009

Trompe L'Oeil

The Oasis Designer Collaboration, this time featuring London College of Fashion student Rosalind Keep, is in stores from 7th December. The collaboration aims to support emerging British textile and design talent graduating accross the country, giving them a platform to launch from. Rosalinds collection features oversized tees and racer back vests working with the rather witty trend for Trompe L'Oeil - literally a 'Trick of the Eye'! Great fun. Comme des Garcons, below, also worked Trompe L'Oeil for AW09.


Image thanks to Vogue.com

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Lucy and Bart Stalking Fashion

Great interview by Dazed and Confused with Lucy and Bart, who work on what they call an 'instinctual stalking of fashion'. Fashion fringe art installation like I've never seen before, definitely worth reading the full interview.

Elena Garcia - Fairtrade Fashion

Look out for Elena Garcia, a luxury Eco designer, whose creations are resolutely feminine. As a member of the Ethical Fashion Forum, along with the pretty amazing Christopher Raeburn and Rani Jones, Elena sees that designers and business owners quite simply have a responsibility to preserve our world. In fact I believe it is thanks to these ethical roots that her design are as innovative and unique as they are. She blends daring design, traditional techniques and luxurious Eco-friendly textiles. Expect sheer, softly draping exquisite fabric, perfectly frayed or delicately appliqued detail and an innovative use of wool and other unusual textile embellishments. By working from the confines of sustainability she pushes her imagination and creativity further, and the results are magical.




Photographer Martin Dagucci
Stylist Ella Pearce Heath
Make-uo Joella Butler
Hair Chelsea De Main

Tuesday 1 December 2009

An interview by Hattie MacAndrews

I was recently interviewed by Hattie MacAndrews and this is the final piece she has just sent over!


Ella Pearce Heath

Stylist. Journalist. Thinker.

Compelling. Petite. Passionate. Ella Pearce Heath has been inflicting her British sense of style upon rock’n’rollers, classical beauties and influential designers all around London. Having styled the likes of Noush Skaugen, winner of the Rising Star category at the Download Music Awards and Escala the electric string-quartet for the final of Britains Got Talent on ITV, Ella’s thirst for styling hasn’t gone unnoticed. Having got into the industry through working with ‘bands and musicians and making wacky clothes to shoot with a photographer friend’ her clients have evolved to include publications such as the Financial Times ‘How To Spend IT’, J-FW Magazine, Vanity Fair and the Daily Mail.

Training at the Royal Academy of Music for three years seems like an unlikely origin; from a musical marvel to a conversant stylist. It was recognising something in the industry that is often easy to overlook that ensured Ella stuck to her belief in fashion as an ‘art form that can reflect our society in a way that many other parts of the arts cannot.’ Clothes became an interest ‘Because not only are they objects of beauty worthy of admiration and a route of identity forming transformation, but they are also part of a multi-million pound industry across the globe that cannot be ignored’. Holding an awareness surrounding the importance of fashion within our society has not only influenced Ella’s style and aesthetic, but the people she works with too.
The look that Ella creates, both for her clients and herself, is ‘British Eccentricity’. Drawing inspiration from everyday life to create looks that are fresh and exclusive, ‘I’m inspired by everything around me – nature, architecture, art, literature, cultures, politics, history, tradition and probably most importantly, people with a unique voice that aren’t afraid to stand out and go against the mainstream’.

Certainly not one to suppress any sense of creativity, Ella delves into the deeper depths of fashion through her writing (www.ellapearceheath.com). But which does she prefer, styling or writing? ‘I think they need to go together, how can I write effectively if I don’t work hands on in the industry. Similarly, how can I style without understanding the wider cultural implications, and having my own theory on beauty. I couldn’t pick between them.’ Unlike many ‘Fashion Journalists’ today, Ella doesn’t just write for the sake of writing. Nor has she succumbed to the ease of writing about ‘must-have items’ and celebrity trends. She writes about the role of Fashion in Society ‘because you can’t fully understand anything until you place it in its context’. Constantly scouring the city for fresh designers untainted by the artistic restraint of sponsorship, it was Ella who recognised Fannie Schiavoni as an emerging new talent before she was acknowledged by the likes of Browns and Tank Magazine. But why choose to use young, unrecognised designers? ‘Because they often are still in the position to place the aesthetic, a unique voice/message and forward thinking at the forefront of their collection as they haven’t yet been compromised by the buyers need for ‘2 of this in 3 different colour-ways attitude’. Not to be misunderstood, Ella is of course aware of the importance of influential high-end brands such as Alexander McQueen, Lanvin and Iris Van Herpen, and her inspiration and admiration is still drawn by ‘Prada for innovation and single-mindedness, Stella McCartney for feminine simplicity and Antonio Berardi for amazing dresses’.

The next step for Ella is preparing the Look-Book for Komodo, an ‘ethical, hempy and hand-made’ brand. Individuality and artistic exploration are both equally as important as sustainability, influencing Ella’s belief that the future of fashion ‘must move away from celebrity; collections by non-designers just trying to make money or boost their fame etc are just a gimmick. True fashion is an art form, and this needs to be recognised’. How can the effects of the recession be seen in Fashion? ‘I think it has bred a new wave of designers who realise we aren’t infallible as a society or a people, and therefore has resulted in a rise of ecological and sustainable fashion designers who see a responsibility to our world’. It seems that Ella’s plans for the future are simple and to be honest, slightly understated , ‘I hope to make people think and to make beautiful images! Can that be a plan, even if it’s an ever so naive one?’ She’s headstrong, determined and knows exactly what she wants, and how she wants it done. Her ideal clients include Alexander McQueen, Gareth Pugh and Vivienne Westwood – who would be ‘pretty fantastic to work with, with all her rebellious attitude and strong opinions’. Perhaps there’s a little bit of Vivienne in all of us…?

Interview by Hattie MacAndrews, November 2009

Dare to Dream - Noush Skaugen




Here are a few stills from Noush Skaugen’s official Run Baby Run video shoot. She, with her message of ‘Dare to Dream,’ is capturing everyone’s imagination. Noush has said in a recent interview with Kontraband:

"People need real music; life influences music and conversely music influences life." … It used to seem like it could change the world, like Dylan playing at the Martin Luther King Jr. 'March on Washington' or Woody Guthrie with his guitar labelled "This Machine Kills Fascism". But music seems like a long way from that now, it's at a weird place.

This inspiring attitude acknowledges the real relationship between the arts and society. It is important that, obviously in its place alongside a broad spectrum of all styles in music or art or fashion, that there are some voices that like Noush’s that seize on what is real. The series of bespoke ‘Dare to Dream’ t-shirts I made Noush for this video hopefully capture her spirit!

Read the rest of the interview at Kontraband.

Run Baby Run Video Shoot 2009
Photographer Ian Harding
Stylist Ella Pearce Heath
Hair and Make-up Joella Butler

Friday 27 November 2009

Digitaria: Opening a Dialogue between Fashion, Art and Politics

Photography by George Mavrikos

Look no further than Digitaria on Soho’s Berwick Street if you are seeking a bubbling environment striving to connect and create dialogue between fashion and the arts. But it is much more than just a space to host the Digitaria label which, designed by Eleftheria Arapoglou and Stavros Karelis, the Creative Director, aims to ‘create affordable, well tailored in house fashion...and to combine the world of art with fashion and politics’. At Digitaria London also expect a host of experiential things in this multi-purpose store-come-gallery space, ‘from sound installations and film screenings to gallery shows and what will probably be very strange performances by Theo Adams, Masumi Tipsy and, Scottee’. Digitaria plugs itself as ‘aiming to bring a fresh approach to the industry, combining fashion, art, music and performance to create interactive spaces you want to shop in’. It is an environment where they hope anyone can express his or her ideas.

Furthermore, with their buyer, Paul Joyce, Stavros also works alongside young talented designers to promote their collections. Their current protégée is British Designer Millie Cockton whose new label is called EUPHEMIA. Her work has already been featured in Dazed and Confused, and she is rapidly making a name for herself. Androgyny is strong in her work, but so is the notion of the ‘individuality of the wearer identifying with the pieces’.

Photography by Mark Cant, Notion July 2009

Photography by Toyin, Dazed and Confused, March 2009

They are also currently working with Ada Zanditon, who like many of the other designers they nourish, has strong ecological fundamentals. ‘She uses a range of organic and natural fabrics as well as innovative waste reducing and energy conscious solutions to create sculptural, elegant, desirable fashion.’ Furthermore, she doesn’t use leather or fur in her Ready-to-wear collections or accessories.
Photography by Paul Morgan

Digitaria recently held the Faroe Islands SS10 designer showcase, at which Pop note washed leather and stretched jersey pieces by Barbara I Gongini and chunky neon knits from Johanna Av Steinum as highlights. Barbara I Gongini, again a designer committed to sustainability, deserves a whole post of her own - but here's a taster to whet your appetite.

Barbara i Gongini AW 09

Digitaria is creating an exciting dialogue, connecting up fashion and art and politics; as Karelis says 'nothing exists without its meaning, however many people don't see the idea behind a creation, even though most of the time socio-political issues that affect us all are incorporated in fashion and art’. I suppose this is exactly what I regularly bang on about – to fully appreciate fashion, and to exploit all of its potential we must put it in its place in our society. However, I think it is also important that we start to recognise that, as Digitaria obviously have, sustainability is also a political issue that designers have a responsibility to commit too. It’s fantastic to see so many young designers (many of whom I will be introducing you to over the next few weeks) are seizing this opportunity, many under the guidance of Digitaria, and are using locally sourced materials and adopting a healthy attitude towards sustainable fashion. As these designers prove, it is highly possible for inspiring fashion and art to take up this challenge without compromising aesthetics or progressive technology and design. As Ada Zanditon says, she ‘pioneers creating and evolving a high end womenswear business with a common sense approach to sustainability…and a belief in business that treats people, planet and profit with equal importance’.

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Komodo AW10 Team Meeting


A sneak preview of the Komodo AW10 shoot team, Kelly and Jules from Foundation Agency, photographer Claire Pepper and hair and make-up starlet Joella Butler, in action. There were fabric samples, drawings, tear sheets and mood boards...but as of yet, no actual samples! We have a beautiful autumnal palette with bursts of purple, berry, red and mustard to work with. Classic tweeds, checks, wools and paisley paired with the original Komodo girl ethnic and laid back aesthetic, creates a well-traveled, chic, fun spirited and wearable collection.
I'm looking at some amazing shoes by eco designers Beyond Skin and Where, to sit alongside some vintage boots and statement chunky heels with socks. Jewellery by Made, and some amazing vintage and recycled pieces and feathers galore are going to take this collection forward from it's ethical roots. With the rise in interest in eco fashion, headed by Emma Watson's collaboration with People Tree and talk of a Leona Lewis/Stella McCartney shoe and bag range, this AW10 Komodo collection is in a great position to attract new attention and define it's place in the market. Watch this space...

Models 1 New Face Georgina Howard to be the face of Komodo for AW10

Image thanks to Models 1

Monday 23 November 2009

Radiation by Invasion - Iris van Herpen






Here's a little bit more art, this time by Iris van Halpern. Her SS10 'Radiation by Invasion' collection, was shown back in September at Blow PR Presents, where her work caught the eye of Harrods. She will now be the first designer to partake in the Harrods New Designer Platform, and an exhibition of her work will be showing at Harrods from today, November 23rd, until December 6th.

All images copyright Michel Zoeter

Georgia Hardinge - Artist through Fashion

Pretty much love everything by Georgia Hardinge, who says 'I believe that the highest approach of art awareness is through fashion. Enabling a large community to access my work.' Fashion is art, not a shopping list of what one must or must not wear and have and be. Her work consists of modern fabric sculpturing, 'accentuating the important features of the body, combining positive and negative space to meld both the delicate and structural as one'.







Thursday 12 November 2009

The Silent Revolution - The Shoot




Photography by Ian Harding
www.ianharding.info

The Silent Revolution

‘Art and cultural consumption are predisposed, consciously and deliberately or not, to fulfil a social function of legitimating social differences’. (‘Distinction’, Bourdieu)

The counter culture movement of the 1960s and 1970s has become as much a fashion movement as a political one. Forty years on the key fashion trademarks of the counter culture movement are still firmly established, and are open for re-interpretation in our current social context. Florals, denim, ethnic influences, tie-dye and that ‘Woodstock’ vibrancy of colour, texture and print, get the ‘signature look’. However, when viewed, rather than as abstract fashion pieces, but in a context of an era defined by the political conscience and social rebellion of a post-war generation, these signature 70s pieces become tools to convey a political message, both now and then, and the era had lasting social, political and cultural consequences.

Politically the counter culture movement encapsulated student rebellion across the Western world: protesting against the Vietnam War; the excesses of consumerism; the establishment; intolerance and racism; global capitalism and the giant multi-national corporations; and nuclear armament, all against a backdrop of the spread of Communism and violence and suffering in the Third World. A generation, socialized in a period of affluence, was no longer so concerned with material issues, but became what has been called ‘post-materialist’, looking for individual fulfillment, quality of life and self expression. As explained in Inglehart’s Silent Revolution, in 1977: ‘for the younger cohorts, a set of “post-bourgeois” values, relating to the need for belonging and to aesthetic and intellectual needs…take top priority.’ Original counter culture members saw themselves and their own lives as a way to express political and social beliefs and so personal appearance was at the forefront of their political expression. Clothes were used to make a political statement and to express an alternative way of life and an alternative sense of fashion to that of ‘the Establishment’. Woodstock in 1969, the famous festival of music and the arts, was a platform for this disaffection from the dominant culture, and a very visual symbol of the political empowerment of the young. As captured by Eric Hobsbawn in The Age of Extremes, the State was checked by an increasingly rebellious population with much more individualistic attitudes than ever before; it was ‘the triumph of the individual over society.’

The use of exotic motifs, now iconically linked to that era, were adopted by the counter culture movement out of concern for Western exploitation of the Third World in symbols of solidarity: leather accessories and the hippy head-band in the manner of Native Americans; the caftan; the PLO-style Arab headscarf; Afghan sheepskin coats; and long scarves from India. These were all worn in a sign of unity and as political statement pieces. Second-hand clothing – a statement of living on the margins of a capitalist society and of self sufficiency, demonstrating an opposition to the wastefulness of the consumer society – was also ‘in’. Self-expression through external appearance led to free and creative stylistic additions such as customising with bleach and tie-dye, Indian inspired batik, paisley, scarves and gold jewellery, patches and ethnic inspired embroidery, drawing on national dress from, for example, Greece and Turkey. Body painting became an art form as hippies adorned themselves with psychedelic patterns across their bodies.

Haute Couture went for the hippy utopia and the street fashions de riguer were sold in boutiques in Paris, LA and London. These eclectic influences from the street movement were seen in the collections of couturiers: Pucci’s 1960s interpretation saw geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colour; Marc Bohan at Dior showed psychedelic patterns in 1967; and Missoni ran their iconic bold bright space dyed weave patterns. Vogue too acted to make the painted psychedelic prints a high fashion trend. The national dress (which we see interpreted in Yves Saint Laurent’s Africane collection of 1967), tunics (Halston, designer to the rich and famous of society, showed tunics and matching trousers to dress America’s real woman), florals (as shown by Kenzo in the early 1970s), and peasant style blouses and skirts (as shown by Yves Saint Laurent in his Russia Collection, 1976/77, and folkloric tops shown in Jean-Paul Gaultier’s 1976 collection).There was a rush back to nature, ‘a return to paradise’, with the inclusion of flowers and natural materials, (Biba, in the late 1960s, ran cheesecloth dresses with lace trims, layered sleeves, tied backs and tied cuffs), all further enhanced by ‘barefoot and braless’, Jesus sandals and long hair. This ‘back to nature mentality’ saw the 1973 ‘beige phase’ in high end fashion. The hippy preference for baring flesh, in conjunction with the sexual liberation of the era, saw the trend for sheer blouses over bare breasts arrive on the catwalks in 1968. The hunt for unique second-hand finds, such as a velvet jacket, were too, soon enough all copied, and, using this example, velvet flared suits suddenly flooded the market. Denim, and Levi Strauss, became the uniform of the un-conformist, it united classes and helped the wearer make a philosophical, political or fashion statement.

The fashion revolution saw young creative designers responding to these new attitudes, ‘they were lively, highly individual, inventive…and greatly concerned with the creation of “image”’. Inglehart’s ‘post-materialist’ youth led to, probably for the first time, designers reacting to and interpreting their street movement. Much is written on Yves Saint Laurent who found his source of inspiration on the street and captured some of the spirit of the times. Along with the collection specifically mentioned above, he added details from the hippies eastern influences; his 1969 collection, a patchwork and mix of patterns and outfits of romantic silk and organdie, was for the sophisticated hippy. Furthermore, in 1968 he launched his Rive Gauche range ‘named after the left bank of the Seine in Paris, a favourite haunt of students, intellectuals and existentialists’ – the new in-group. Yves Saint Laurent created antiestablishment fashion at high end prices for the super rich who ‘wanted their image to be as “anti—establishment” as it was beautiful’. Couturiers Emanuel Ungaro, Pierre Cardin and Audre Courreges similarly responded to these attitudes. Biba, the first high fashion and low price point brand designed by Barbara Hulanicki, showed the classless aspirations of the time, she targeted this new generation and Biba became the epitome of a style conscious idealism. It fulfilled the 1960s commitment to ‘live fast, die young and leave a beautiful corpse’. Mary Quant’s shop, ‘Bazaar’, run with her husband, celebrated youth and fun and bohemianism. It was an upmarket alternative that drew essence from the emerging group identity of young Britain. And thus, the anti-culture found itself to be the in-culture in the oxymoron of non-conformist fashion; by adopting a stylistic alternative the movement had remained firmly imbedded in a culture defined by style, and with this, ‘anti-fashion’ became ‘official fashion’ and lost its attitude.

The new demands of the post-materialist, post-Second World War youth, looking for individual fulfillment, quality of life and self expression, led to a changing role in fashion in our society. Now in our modern society ‘celebrity’ fills a similar cultural niche as the ‘political conscience’ did in the 60s and 70s. Through association with a celebrity one attaches themselves to all their transferable connotations, such as a particular social class or attitude or lifestyle or style. Furthermore, the anti-fashion of the 60s and early 70s probably changed the way we wear clothes forever. Where previously one bought a whole outfit, the new individualistic requirement of the trend demanded one took a little bit from here, there and everywhere, ‘mass produced clothing…mixed with clothes from past decades and other cultures’.

This was more than a political movement; it was a movement of the arts. As Oscar Wilde put it: ‘the artist is the creator of beautiful things’, but ‘all art is quite useless’. The 1960s saw the young united with a common objective, whether politically motivated, interested in popular culture or naively dreaming of a life full of peace and love. Their common objective, ultimately, was their image.

Sources
John Peacock, The 1970s
John Peacock, The 1960s
Charlotte Seeling, The Century of the Designer
Alwyn W Turner, BIBA: The Biba Experience
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Preface

Wednesday 11 November 2009

The Uniform

Here's a link to an interesting piece discussing military uniform. Although it may not seem an obvious connection, uniforms, particularly military, are deeply related to the the issues of Fashion and it's role in society, and so is a topic I will be covering in some amount of depth over the next few months. For now, enjoy...

Monday 19 October 2009

SS10 Round-Up: Fendi and Lingerie


Fendi SS10 RTW
All photos thanks to Style.com

Throughout the 20th Century trends in underwear seem to have reflected the social climate and the role of women in that social climate. Whether the 1920s, where a post-First World War generation threw aside corsetry and foxtrots in favour of cropped hair and the Charleston, and squeezed into a ‘flattener brassiere’ or ‘bandeau’ to fit the androgynous straight lines and unfitted dresses of the period. Or the ‘New Look’ of the post-Second World War generation, where society embraced the corset as a historic form of luxury following years of rations and deprivation, and with this a celebration of the most womanly of shapes, the hourglass. Or during the rebellious years of the 1970s, a time rife with political demonstration and a new rejectionist counter culture, where the mass abandonment of traditional “undies”, namely the corset, suspender belt and stockings, signified a rejection of ‘ritualistic seduction’ as women declared ‘our bodies belong to us’ and women in the US famously burnt their bras.
For SS10 underwear has similarly been used by designers as a way to express their differing opinions on the women they dress in this current social climate. Jean Paul Gaultier liberated and empowered women, Dior celebrated sexuality as an object of admiration, and Dolce and Gabbana embraced the discourse between femininity and masculinity. Karl Largerfeld’s SS10 collection for Fendi displayed yet another aesthetic, where again underwear as outwear took centre stage.
Largerfelds’s romantic collection, all delicacy and fragility, showed Parisian lingerie along with the seasonal whimsical and wispy fabrics and colours. ‘Hyper-sexy’ was certainly not the attitude, even with the most revealing of underwear. Open jackets, sheer chiffon blouses and full length dresses revealed delicately feminine bras and little pantaloons. Shawl collars, ruffles on shoulders, scalloped edges, floral appliqué, vintage lace-edged bras, frill-edged bras, fringed trims and feathery collages of leather were Largerfeld’s details of choice. These details, and the use of sheer and roughed up fabrics and frayed edges, created a softness that felt very much more elegant than any other interpretation of the trend. The pale, almost washed out colours and the rough-hewn elements combined with the incredibly luxurious Fendi craftsmanship and attention to detail was the perfect balance of characters to keep the underwear perfectly ladylike.