Ada Zanditon

In a recent post, Digitaria (*EDIT* newly named MACHINE-A): Opening a dialogue between fashion, art and politics, I shared a little teaser on Ada Zanditon; an innovative, luxury, ethical designer. She has been hailed as a rising star, and with internships at Alexander McQueen, Jonathan Saunders and Gareth Pugh, awards for creativity, widely acclaimed graduate and debut collections, and the honour of being handpicked as one of Vauxhall Fashion Scout’s Ones to Watch she has a distinguished foundation. It is with eager anticipation I await her show at London Fashion Week.

Her debut LFW Spring/Summer 2010 ‘Colony’ collection, supported by Vauxhall Fashion Scout, highlighted the Colony Collapse Disorder, based on the book A World Without Bees by Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum. The technique, architecture and drama of her previous graduate collection were still evident, but the over-exaggerated 3-D sculptural statements were interpreted into far more wearable pieces. In a translation of the hexagonal cells of a honeycomb and the co-operative nature of the networks of hives, her collection showcased architectural networks of three dimensional hexagons, exaggerated geometric prints and intricate pleating. Using fine, sheer and delicate fabrics, and peeks of flesh through geometric cut-outs and bared midriffs, the structural formations were balanced into soft, feminine pieces. A palette of red, royal blue and dove grey ensured there were no cliché references to the typified black and yellow bees.

But Zanditon is set apart from her contemporaries by her added layer of mission, saying ‘the first thing [she] thinks of is the concept behind the collection, whether this be weather patterns or bees’. Often she takes the principals of biomimicry (an emerging discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems) as a starting point for the design process. She is also committed to an ethical business on all levels; using organic and natural fabrics, sourced from ethical and reliable manufacturers and lining her dresses with cutting-room floor scraps of linen and silk organza. A third of our food crops are pollinated by bees, and so a worldwide phenomenon causing honeybees to die en-masse really is a concern for the whole world and by bringing this to the forefront of fashion she aims, and hopefully will achieve, to ‘stimulate consciousness and not just spending’.

But what really sets Zanditon apart is how she synthesises these ideas with great design. Looking at her collection you wouldn’t see ‘ethical’, as it is entirely removed from the stigma of ‘hempy-eco-fashion’. The success of her work is the strength of her ability as an innovative designer. So, now I just can’t wait for her AW10 show.