LUCY ROYLE’S CLINICAL FASHION
LUCY ROYLE, A MANCHESTER-BASED, LEEDS-EDUCATED BRITISH DESIGNER SHOWED HER GRADUATE COLLECTION DURING GRADUATE FASHION WEEK LAST JUNE. INSPIRED BY THE MEDICAL TEXTBOOK GRAY’S ANATOMY, ANATOMICAL DRAWINGS AND SKELETAL AND MUSCULAR STRUCTURES, HER FIRST SHOW WAS REPRESENTATIVE OF HER BACKGROUND. LYDIA MILLIGAN MET WITH THE DESIGNER TO DISCUSS SPINE AND STYLE.
Your final collection, inspired by the medical world, was beautiful. Where did the idea spanned from?
My dad is a doctor and my mum is a nurse so growing up, I was surrounded by a lot of medical books. For my final collection, I though it would be really nice to do something that was part of my identity.
Your designs mirror the look of the body very well, especially the spine while looking very contemporary and individual.
Yes, the spine did feature quite primarily. It just kind of happened. You just mess about with ideas; one day I had a sample and just literally pinned it to the mannequin. Then, of course, once you start putting bits together you end up with an idea. People do comment on how much the draw cords mirror the spinal cord itself.
I noticed a written print design, where did this come from?
These are my dad’s revision notes when he was a student. Like the textbook, they have always been around the house. My dad’s handwriting is immaculate, beautiful. These notes were on anorexia and bulimia and I thought I would use them to add another dimension to my concept.
All your collections appear quite different, yet with a similar darkness to them. What inspired them?
The idea was to get a variety. In one collection, I focused on Ancient Greece and Sophia Kokosalaki. Greek mythology was a fascination of mine for years so I really wanted to look into it. My Rick Owens-inspired collection was a university-imposed challenge to associate with the designer and to design to their style. As he is a dark designer, this collection probably ended up the darkest. These are designers I really like anyway and I always look at their work.
You design primarily for sportswear; do you intend to continue that way?
Yes definitely, I did my work placement with Reebok which was great inspiration. I never had an interest in it, then while working at Reebok I realised how versatile it was. I think sportswear is the way we dress now and what consumers look for. We were talking at uni about how none of us really wear jeans anymore and you wonder if even jeans will fade; we all wear jeggings now!
Why did you go in to fashion?
To be honest, I sort of fell into it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do at university and by default, as I was doing an English Literature A level I applied to do English; as I filled in the application I just knew it wasn’t for me. I got rejected from every University I applied to. I took a year out to do an Art foundation course; it gave me time to think about where I wanted to study. I ended up following the fashion route. I drifted in to it, but fate told me that it was right.
You’re going on to do an MA at London College of Fashion, how did you end up there?
Our external examiner came to visit us back in January to have an informal chat. He came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. He said, “If you want a place in a MA, you have one!” When this offer came along I thought, ‘I can’t turn it down.’
Where do you see yourself in five years?
After the MA I definitely would like to be working for a high-end luxury designer because I have never had experience in that field before. Ultimately, I want my own business. I think working for a more exclusive designer, you would have more engagement with how the company works as a whole and how they work overseas. In five years, I would like to be based in London and working for a designer.
Words Lydia Milligan
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AKABI: FEMALE STYLE INTELLIGENCE
THE BLISTERING SUMMER ISN’T THE ONLY THING BRINGING A HEAT WAVE TO LONDON. SUSTAINABLE AFRICAN WOMENSWEAR BRAND AKABI SHOWCASED ITS GOOD-NATURED, PRETTY PRINTED COLLECTION IN JULY, JUST MONTHS AFTER LAUNCHING THE LABEL. INSPIRED BY THE STRENGTHS AND ATTITUDES OF THE CONTEMPORARY FEMALE ‘URBANITE’, THE ‘LOVE FROM AFRICA’ COLLECTION IS A FUSION OF THE BRIGHT COLOURS AND THE ENERGY OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT. GET IT WHILE YOU CAN AS THIS ETHICAL BRAND ONLY PRODUCES ONE COLLECTION A YEAR.
Akabi means love in Greek. J’Quita, Akabi founder and designer , picked the name because “The foundation of what we do here at Akabi is love.”J’Quita’s passion for social responsibility, international development, sustainability, as well as her love for Africa led her to set up Akabi. She brings ethical intelligence and knowledge to the style of females worldwide and so she birthed the tagline ‘female style intelligence’. Her triple aim is to “promote Africa / empower women / love Earth.”The line has a casual side and incorporates feminine shapes and prints to make the garments fresh for an evening out in the peak of the British summertime. Sculpted skin-tight trousers compliment edgy harem pants. Akabi’s eco friendly collection promotes Africa as a continent with a great future. It raises awareness of the possibilities of trading with Africa and supports existing sustainable businesses presently in Kenya and Ghana by incorporating their work in the Akabi collections.
The organic cotton pieces are sprinkled with batik print work from Ghana. J’Quita also uses war parachutes, creating jackets and outerwear with a military feel. The production is innovative whilst keeping traditional crafts alive and bringing it to new markets.
Akabi supports women from disadvantaged backgrounds, encouraging them to develop skills, such as sewing, to empower them so that they can set up their own businesses. J’Quita is passionate about pushing the eco friendly aspect of the brand, “Our intention is to be a sustainable, desirable and ethically made in Africa fashion and lifestyle brand. It’s our social responsibility to take action where possible and to reduce the environmental impact as much as we can and in all we do.”Environmentally friendly or water-based inks for printing are used on the cotton jersey styles to help reduce the impact on the environment. Many items are made in Bamboo as well as Hemp/Organic cotton twills. The organic cotton is ‘Made in Africa’ and 100% Organic Cotton & Social Standards Certified.
Akabi will donate 10% of sales to the Seed of Hope charity. The organisation works with orphaned, destitute and disadvantaged teenage girls in Kenya, and helping them to have brighter future.
Words Jennifer Butler
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THE DOLL HOUSE JEWELLERY
HELEN TURTON HAS JUST LAUNCHED THE DOLL HOUSE, AN INDEPENDENT JEWELLERY COMPANY. EVERY PIECE IS INDIVIDUALLY DESIGNED, SOURCED AND HANDMADE USING DOLLHOUSE MINIATURES, CREATING A UNIQUE, KITSCH LOOK. ALMAZ OHENE MET HER TO CHAT ABOUT HER INSPIRATION, HER BUSINESS PLANS AND WHY SHE DIDN’T GIVE ALMAZ A PIECE FOR HER BIRTHDAY; SEE, ALMAZ AND HELEN GO WAY BACK…
We meet at a Sheffield bar. Helen orders pink fruit beer for both of us while I admire her outfit. She’s wearing… well, she places her hands in front of her on top of the bar, so that I can see her jewellery. On three of her fingers, she’s sporting dinner plate rings. Eggs, chips and beans on one hand, and a Full-English Breakfast on the other. About her neck is a rocking horse necklace. Clipped in her hair is a large, pink gingham bow, which, on closer inspection, forms the cloth of a tiny champagne picnic. This woman loves fashion – that much is obvious from her high-waisted tailored hot pants paired with floral print tights. Naturally, I ask her is why she chose to go into jewellery and not clothes.
“I started out modifying my own clothes, getting fridge magnets and gluing them onto shoes and generally trying to modify my own wardrobe.
“I like things to be unique. I’ve always had a passion for jewellery. The Doll House stemmed from having gone down to a little shop which sold miniatures for dollhouses when I was at college. I saw a little telephone and though that it would look amazing if I turned it into a ring. The whole thing just blossomed from there.”
I ask her where she sources all of the fantastic dolls house miniatures.
“I go into dollhouse emporiums, look around and decide which bits will look amazing if I turn them into jewellery. Sometimes, I come up with an idea and hunt down a piece, often through scouring free-ads pages or going to car-boot sales. I also find new and vintage material on eBay.”
As well as the themed collection ‘In The Kitschen’ and ‘The Music Box’, Helen creates individual pieces such as the Grandfather Clock Brooch, the Telephone Fascinator, the Rocking Horse Necklace and Teacup Earrings.
It was time for the inevitable question about her inspiration.
“There was no designer or person who I saw and then said, ‘Oh, right so I need to look like that.’ The people that inspire me are different. They include designers like Vivienne Westwood and like TigerMilk, who are some of my own friends. They spur me on and let me know that it’s cool to keep things different from everything else out there.”
She’s collaborated with photographer Holly Booth on a couple of promotional shoots which have a very distinctive style.
“We wanted to make the model look like a living doll. I had some crazy make up done by Lucy Engelfield, an amazing make-up artist. Holly and I worked on getting the right angles and the right lighting to make her look just like a Porcelain doll.”
Helen talks animatedly about the second ‘location’ shoot. She mentions a few different people who were part of that project; I wonder what it was like to work with a team.
“For the second shoot, I worked with Lotte Manson and Kirsty Mann, the TigerMilk girls, brainstorming ideas for backdrops. We had an idea for an Alice in Wonderland theme that eventually developed into something involving mirror and chandeliers in the woods.
“Having a crew made it more fun. Holly did some really good work, working out the best camera angles and the best lighting; angling the mirrors so the end product looked really beautiful.”
Helen’s jewellery is currently on sale at Syd and Mallory’s in Sheffield. I wonder how she sees her business developing from there?
“I got involved with Syd and Mallory’s quite recently. That was my first progression to taking the whole thing seriously, rather than just wearing my own jewellery. When I have more time I’m going to expand it, buy the materials in bulk and try to get more pieces finished. I really like little boutique shops but I’d like to branch out to other cities too.”
When pushed on the issue of her particular ethos she replies:
“I really like having clothes and jewellery that look different to what other people are wearing. My main idea is getting something kitsch and unique to everybody that wants to wear the jewellery. No piece of jewellery is exactly the same as any other piece; so when you buy a piece it’ll be completely different from anything that anybody else has.”
Words Almaz Ohene
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FROM SOMEWHERE POP UP SHOW
WHERE DO YOU GO FOR FASHION-FORWARD, ETHICAL CLOTHING? SUSTAINABLE WOMENSWEAR LABEL FROM SOMEWHERE, ON PORTOBELLO ROAD, OFFERS THE BEST GREEN FASHION GARMENTS IN LONDON. LAST MONTH, FOUNDER ORSOLA DE CASTRO, WHO IS ALSO THE BRAIN BEHIND ESTETHICA, OPENED UP HER SHOP TO SOME OF THE MOST CREATIVE AND ECO-FRIENDLY DESIGNERS OF THE MOMENT.
The show celebrated designers who minimise their impact on the environment by using organic, fair trade and recycled materials.
Sonya Kashmiri’s beautifully designed and thoughtfully handcrafted vegetable leather bags sat in the window along with pairs of Nina Dolcetti’s daring, architectural and design led shoes made from up-cycled leather.
You could also find MTLabel’s hand-cut and hand-stitched leather clutches and KAYU’s range of bamboo sunglasses. As part of the label’s ongoing campaign against preventable blindness, every pair sold funds one sight-restoring surgery in a developing country.
Finnish designer Minna Hepburn, recently chosen by the British Fashion Council for the Estethica mentoring programme, explained that the Minna collection includes accessories complementing each outfits, such as a bespoke bird necklace and a removable collar.
“As with all the designers on show, it is about traceability and using every shred of the vintage fabrics. I think it is important to have a UK and handmade element to my clothing line. My dresses are made of vintage lace and this gives it a personal feel. You can really tell the difference between the high street lace and what I use. It has intrigue, subtlety and roots. Some of my materials even come from curtains,” said Hepburn.
The show raised the profile of these green designers in London and Great Britain. The different buying habits in continental Europe means that green labels often do better in France and Germany, where clients buy investment items they can wear to death. Thanks to the pop up show, many designers who don’t have bricks-and-mortar shops in the UK were able to push their garments to the British audience.
Words Jennifer Butler
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GRACE AND STYLE
MILLIONS OF WOMEN MAY GIVE ALL THE LUXURY LIPSTICKS IN THE WORLD TO LOOK LIKE HER TODAY, SO IT’S PERHAPS PARADOXICAL THAT THE ELEGANT LOOK THAT GRACE KELLY PULLED OFF WAS ALL APPARENTLY DOWN TO A VERY EFFORTLESS APPROACH.
The late actress and princess applied a similar simple attitude to her wardrobe as the set of values that she lived her life by.
Her style is currently the subject of a Victoria & Albert museum exhibition that was nearly two years in the making. It will probably turn out to be the most popular one ever held in the museum’s Fashion Gallery temporary exhibition space.
Grace, who married Prince Rainier III in 1956, was “loyal to her old clothes the way she was loyal to her old friends”, one magazine article in the 1950s reported her as saying.
“I just buy my clothes when they take my eye,” she said.
“And I wear them for years.” Her treasured brown leather Hermes “Kelly” handbag, which collected numerous marks over the years, is probably the most famous example of this.
V&A curator of fashion Jenny Lister says that the Style Icon exhibition, which features mostly items on loan from the Princely Palace in Monaco, is surprisingly attracting, among others, many 20-somethings and younger people born after Grace tragically plunged off a cliff in Monaco in 1982.
“You often see fashion students sketching the dresses, so they are still clearly interested in using Grace Kelly’s wardrobe as a reference and maybe as inspiration for their designs,” she says.
Although her life story was “extraordinary, encompassing the glamour of Hollywood and European royalty,” Grace Kelly became “almost a kind of short-hand or code for that classic, restrained way of dressing that never quite goes out of fashion, in contrast to more outlandish, or overtly sexual styles”, Lister says.
“She loved things that were beautifully made,” Lister says.
“Perhaps things are not made to last as well these days.
“But I think from Grace Kelly we can all learn to appreciate our clothes more, look after them and enjoy them too.”
Of course post-war austerity may have had a lot to do with her demure, sensual style.
But even when she was sporting a diaphanous silk chiffon dress that billowed out into a beautifully flared full length skirt, perfect for dancing with Frank Sinatra, or an elaborate gold headpiece like the one she donned for a 1969 Dier des Testes bash – it was so fancy that Grace had to ride there on the floor of a van – the princess’ personality still outshone any diamond. She wore the clothes, and not the other way around.
“I think it’s important to see the person first and the clothes afterwards,” Grace in fact once remarked.
“I have to choose simple clothes because when I wear anything dramatic I seem to get lost.”
During the 1950s Grace’s face was plastered on hundreds of magazines.
LIFE featured her on an April 1955 cover in the Edith Head pale blue silk satin coat that she’d worn to accept her Best Actress Oscar that year.
Another magazine circa the same carried the headline: “Grace Kelly tells how to travel light”. Can you imagine today’s style icons, the likes of Victoria Beckham, doing the same?
Interestingly, Grace Kelly was the first to admit that she’d never be seen front row at the fashion shows.
In fact, she was the first one to admit that she never attended fashion parades, proving – may we all breathe a collective sigh of relief - that one can care about more than fashion and still become a style icon.
“Grace had determination and worked hard for her success, and had to make difficult decisions about her career and family,” says Lister.
Although the exhibition, which lasts until September 26, has been a crowd puller for the V&A, the press coverage it’s received hasn’t been all positive. One broadsheet reviewer in fact branded it ”damp squib”. Visitors may also agree that there is far too much packed into two small galleries. While the same critic was apparently disappointed by the worn-out handbags which appeared to have come from a “high-class Oxfam shop”, another broadsheet fashion writer seemed to celebrate Grace Kelly’s ‘thrifty approach’, pointing out that while the royal may have had the same handbag for years, today Victoria Beckham is believed to own more than 100 by the same label. I am inclined to agree with the latter approach.
What I took away most from the exhibition wasn’t really to do with the actual physical items that Grace Kelly carried, but how she carried herself.
Words Amy Fallon
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ZED EYE IS REINVENTING AFRICAN FASHION
THE WORLD CUP MAY BE OVER, BUT AFRICA IS HAVING A LONG-LASTING IMPACT ON FASHION.
Tribal Romance, the spring/summer 2010 offering from label Zed Eye is a new take on the ethnic trend, a courtship between tribal prints and chiffons, satin, cotton and floral patterns.
“The combinations, although unusual and unexpected, manage to work together as they woo each other and indeed the audience into believing they should be together,” says the creator of the line, Nigerian-born designer Ngozi Pere-Okorotie, 27.
“I always play around with differences in fabrics, colours, textures and patterns.
“I have always wanted to integrate African prints to my collection but needed to do it without compromising on my style of design.
“This summer provided the perfect opportunity with the celebration surrounding World cup in South Africa.
“My favourite stand out piece is the three quarter sleeve floral print summer jacket. I love it so much and it has been the best buy with the Tribal Romance spring/summer 2010 and also a hit with celebrities like Kelis, Shengei (The Noisettes), journalist Caryn Franklin, celebrity hairdresser Tara Smith, also designer Henry Holland loves it too.”
The London College of Fashion graduate, whose biggest inspiration is Vivienne Westwood, is from the Igbo tribe in Nigeria but now based in Earls Court, London.
Although she actually studied to be an accountant, Ngozi’s mother ran a fashion academy and she was always surrounded by clothes. One life-changing moment that stands out to her is learning how to use a measuring tape when she was six-years-old.
“This aroused my interest enough for me to practice designing outfits for my dolls,” she recalls.
“The rest, as they say, is history.”
Despite being African, and feeling strongly that the industry has a “long way to go” when it comes to embracing black designers and models, Ngozi doesn’t want to be typecast as an African designer.
“I am a designer of African heritage,” she says.
“I am more than happy to cater to both Africans and non Africans alike.
She does still however hope to be part of next year’s South Africa Fashion Week.
“It appears that the fashion industry is booming in Nigeria,” she says.
“There is a huge market as the Africans are known for their exhibitionist behaviour even through clothing.
“This would make for interesting prospective designers as I am sure this will be reflected accordingly in their designs.”
The Zed Eye label will soon be stocked in boutiques and online boutiques, but in the meantime you can check out www.myasho.com or from my website www.zedeye.com
Words Amy Fallon
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THE REBIRTH OF GRUNGE FASHION
DESPITE 7.8% OF THE UK POPULATION BEING CURRENTLY UNEMPLOYED, WORKWEAR HAS BEEN COMING BACK AS A TREND FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW. FASHION ALWAYS COMES BACK AROUND BUT NO TREND HAS COME BACK AROUND SO SOON AS ‘90S GRUNGE. IS IT TOO SOON TO BE SPORTING A FASHION TREND OF THE ‘90S AND CALLING IT VINTAGE?
Grunge, described by fashion historians Valerie Mendes and Amy de la Haye as “Punk and Hippie style combined”, first emerged in the ‘80s but did not really come into its stride until the ‘90s. It was a short-lived trend poorly received by both critics and consumers. For some, Grunge never went away. For others, it died with Kurt Cobain.
Grunge stormed New York Fashion Week in 1992 when Marc Jacobs, then Perry Ellis’ women’s ready-to-wear designer, introduced a collection of clothes inspired by music, street fashion and youth culture. Models wore “flannel shirts, thermals re-imagined in cashmere, Doc Martens, layers and layers, all of it topped with a little crocheted skullcap.” Grunge fashion was born, and Jacobs was promptly fired from Perry Ellis.
Grunge fashion mixed Punk style and outdoorwear. James Truman, editor of US men’s magazine Details, said to The New York Times in 1992: “To me the thing about grunge is it’s not anti-fashion, it’s un fashion. Punk was anti-fashion. It made a statement. Grunge is about not making a statement, which is why it’s crazy for it to become a fashion statement”. Grunge made a non-statement statement thanks to unkempt clothing and hair. Denim, layers, plaid, baggy clothes and chunky shoes were all essential. The trend, even in fashion-terms, was short-lived, and soon became little more then a fancy dress option. Grunge was killed by its own style codes, its distressed jeans and holed tee-shirts. Consumers saw little appeal in paying for garments supposed to look torn and disheveled. However, since the ‘90s, designers have regularly referenced it.
Marc Jacobs, the initial Grunge designer, showed slouchy trousers, work boots and plaid for his autumn/winter 2006 show. Alexander Wang dressed his models in stocking caps, denim and ripped tights for spring/summer 2008. And no one captured better the Grunge feel than J.W.Anderson with his autumn/winter 2010 collection complete with belt necklaces, boots, ripped jeans, plaid and punk vibes. The autumn/winter 2010 ready-to-wear shows were full of what fashion writers named “glamour grunge.”
Fashions change and style stays the same but Grunge has adapted to a fresher look for the autumn/winter 2010 collections. Rag & Bone, Peter Som, Alexander Wang and Rick Owens all sent tougher-looking models down the catwalks. Alexander Wang has made a name for himself with his Grunge style and Grunge-inspired collections courtesy of his muse Erin Wasson who wears his black leather platforms and loose-fitted tees like no one. At menswear and womenswear designer Rick Owens, slouchy sheer pieces, layering and chunky boots were the key ingredients to the fresh grunge look.
Hair is another important element of grunge style seen on the autumn/winter 2010 catwalks. Stylist Guido Palau fashioned morning-after hair for Rag & Bone and overloaded roots with hairspray at Wang for their most recent collections. Dries Van Noten presented a collection with grunge skinhead influences. Off the runway, British models such as Alice Dellal and Agyness Deyn are boldly going bald. The 2010 Chanel haute couture show featured several models with dirty blonde roots, in stark contrast to the collection’s perfectly preened feel.
Words Russell Arkinstall
Images Naomi Campbell (thomasdekluyver.blogspot.com)all other pictures courtesy of Style.com
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DIANE GEVORGIAN: “MY CLOTHES ARE WORKS OF ART”
METAL ROOSTER AND LADY GAGA INSPIRE DIANE GEVORGIAN WOMENSWEAR AND FOOTWEAR COLLECTION. HER ONE-OF-A-KIND CLOTHES GATHERED RAVE REVIEW AFTER HER UNTOLD CATWALK. AMY FALLON MET THE YOUNG DESIGNER READY TO REVOLUTIONISE BRITISH FASHION.
The eight metal roosters discovered by up-and-coming designer Diane Gevorgian at a Sunday car boot sale were always going to be sacrificed for her spring summer 2010 collection.
A day after finding them, the 23-year-old University of East London 2010 graduate took them to a metal worker and had them “chopped to pieces”.
Holding the ‘remains’ of the ‘dead’ animals in her hands, the designer began taking inspiration from their different shapes for her latest womenswear and women’s footwear collection. The pieces were reshaped to fit different parts of the human body as detailing and decorations on the garments and footwear, which then inspired the designing and making of the entire collection, very aptly titled If Looks Could Kill.
The range, which features a show-stopping metal jacket with wings, has been described by the blog Fashion Foie Gras as a collection that would “certainly intimidate every individual around them”. Gevorgian has also been compared to a young Lee Alexander McQueen.
“It all made sense, killing the roosters and having heavy decorations on the garments which are so heavy and unique that in a way would intimidate people,” describes Gevorgian, who today is wearing silver flip flops with metal flower decorations.
“At the end of the day they are not just clothes they are works of art.
“All the pieces are unique, they all are very creative and different, however the leather jacket with the metal wings is so unique and original that stands out from everything. It just grabs so much attention.
“My clothes are certainly so innovative that they stand out in very many different ways, they could also be intimidating.”
The collection also includes a striking pair of knee-high boots with immaculate gold detailing.
“My six-year old niece once looked at my half leather half metal boots and said, ‘this is like Lady Gaga!’” says Gevorgian, who would love the singer to model her designs in her videos.
Besides inspiration from Gaga for her clothes, Gevorgian looks to her Armenian background.
“ You can always see the Middle Eastern historical and cultural styles in my designs, which is what makes them unique and different.
“For inspiration I always look at the Middle Eastern cultures and history.
“A lot of it I recognise from things that my grandparents kept from their great grandparents. Those images are always in my head, the old dresses accessories and curtains my grandmother kept in her wardrobe.”
Gevorgian’s aunt also owns a shop in Moscow and the pair are currently in Russia, working on Gevorgian’s second line. It will be targeted at the high street, particularly middle aged working women. It’s available in stores from October.
Her website – www.gevorgian.co.uk – is coming soon.
Words Amy Fallon
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OMER ASIM
AFTER STUDYING ARCHITECTURE AND PSYCHOLOGY AT LONDON UNIVERSITIES, SUDANESE-BORN DESIGNER OMER ASIM THANKFULLY DECIDED TO SWITCH TO FASHION. HIS ACADEMIC BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE WITH THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AND ITS PROPAGANDA FEED HIS INNOVATIVE FORAYS INTO THE FASHION WORLD. BEFORE LAUNCHING HIS OWN LABEL JUST OVER A YEAR AGO AND BEING A STAR EXHIBITOR AT LONDON FASHION WEEK’S ON|OFF, ASIM LEARNT THE TRADE AT VIVIENNE WESTWOOD AND AS PART OF THE COSTUME TEAM FOR THE HARRY POTTER SAGA.
After studying architecture as an undergrad, you were going to do a post-graduate degree in psychology before switching to fashion design. What made you change your career paths?
I realised the body is a good compromise for my interests; it is both physic and psyche. Fashion therefore makes sense. I wouldn’t say it was a transition from everything I’ve done, it’s more of a resolution.
You often use unconventional shapes and cuts to striking effect. Does your architectural background inspire you to create such sculptural, avant-garde designs?
I wouldn’t say so! In fact, I don’t think ‘Architecture’ when I’m making my collections at all. Birds, for instance (and I always refer to that example), build the most fascinating structures instinctually.
What moves you most in life, either to enthuse or upset you?
Pointless discussions and absolute cults get to me.
You have pledged to become more involved in sustainable, ethical, fair trade practices. In which ways do you feel that fashion really does matter?
As long as people wear clothes, fashion will matter. I reckon it would even matter in a nudist society, walking around naked is quite a decision!
You worked as an apprentice under Vivienne Westwood. How did it feel to help create the wedding dress in the 2008 Sex and The City film?
That dress was all Westwood’s! I was just an intern at the time. Seeing the impact of it was interesting!
Your ON|OFF collection was inspired by the 1994 Pulitzer Prize winning photograph ‘Vulture Stalking Baby’ by Kevin Carter. Do you feel that the photograph still represents today’s Sudan?
You can never represent everything with one photograph. Every thesis has an anti-thesis. However, two month after I presented that collection, the UNICEF spoke of famine in South Sudan triggered by tribal conflicts and low rainfall. I don’t have anything to say about the elections, or politics for that matter, there are enough cooks on that broth.
You have been accused of pulling publicity stunts by using carcasses as key parts of your pieces. Can you explain the conceptualisation behind the use of dead chickens in your designs?
It wasn’t a publicity stunt. When you first start out, your take on fashion is a bit romantic and you want to do something that is meaningful for you. I saw a photo of the feathered chicken in my friend’s portfolio; he is a photographer – Sipke Visser. I thought the ghastliness of the feathered chicken would make a great emblem for the collection, to inject a realistic perspective of death into something common and somewhat ‘ridiculous’, as well as evoke emotions similar to the ones aroused by Carter’s photograph. Aside from the resin feathered chicken, we also placed the chicken into an uncanny print of what appeared to be flowers.
You are on your way to becoming an international name, so what are your plans for taking the world by storm?
That is very kind of you but I know I have a looooong way to go. I hope I can build a steady body of work to stick around long enough and then, as you put it, ‘take the world by storm’. For my next collection, I will carry on with my narrative on humanity. The first collection was about life nearing death, the second was about life before it begins as we know it – life in the womb. In this collection life is delivered and it’s a girl – the earliest record of human ancestry, which was nick-named ‘Lucy’s Baby’. There will be references to pre-historic fabric and drapes.
Words Almaz Ohene
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MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA ‘20’ THE EXHIBITION
HE WAS A DEFINING DESIGNER OF THE ‘80s, IMAGINING ICONIC GARMENTS AND ACCESSORIES RANGING FROM THE TABI SHOES TO DECONSTRUCTED TAILORING. THIS SUMMER, LONDON FASHION-HUB SOMERSET HOUSE IS DEDICATING AN EXHIBITION TO THE WORK OF MARTIN MARGIELA. THE ANTWERP-EDUCATED DESIGNER GREW UNDER THE WING OF JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER BEFORE CREATING HIS FIRST LABEL IN 1988, MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA. BELOVED OF FASHION DESIGNERS AND CUSTOMERS ALIKE FOR THE OTHERNESS OF HIS DESIGNS, HE MADE HEADLINES LAST DECEMBER WHEN HIS LABEL, NOW OWNED BY DIESEL, CONFIRMED HE HAD LEFT THE COMPANY.
The exhibition, curated for the 20th anniversary of the Margiela brand, has previously been shown in Antwerp and Munich. “It takes a chronological approach but it really unpicks the themes and concepts of what the Maison is all about”, says Somerset House curator Claire Catterall.
The Embankment gallery was cleansed with a monochromatic palette and clinical white walls, creating an asylum-like backdrop to the row of power-dressing tailored jackets displayed. Architectural-scale models of previous exhibitions show the visitor how the London curators adapted the artifacts to fit the unique spatial characteristics of the Gallery space.
An assortment of catwalk invitations made from plates, chocolate, wishbones, CD’s and cutout numbers and letters scattered in a display case greets the visitor. The minute you step into the silver-spotted and glitter-covered room, you feel that the clothes are as much about the visual language as they are about the garments themselves.
On the ground floor, the multilayered-exhibition parades Margiela’s spring/summer 2009 20th Birthday Show on a large screen. The pounding music generates the sense of power that these iconic clothes portray. Walking up a spiral staircase to the Mezzanine Gallery, you start recognising shapes of clothes that you wear everyday. The Maison uses every fabric and medium available to make its creations exciting and visually splendid. Some of the clothes, such as the disco-ball top from the spring/summer 2008 Artisanal Collection, are unwearable and fantastical. However, if you look closely, you can see how they have translated down into the high street. Margiela’s habit of covering garments with paints, for instance, has filtered down to mainstream chains such as Zara and River Island.
The “Incognito” section of the exhibition pays homage to Margiela’s emphatic decision to withdraw from public view. Legend has it that no one knows what he looks like. In extracts of his collections played on old Orion TV sets, the models are made anonymous by having their faces covered by what Sarah Mower described as “stocking scarves and cascades of hair », as if to protect their identity. They are pushed along the catwalk like dummies in a shop window.
Displayed on the Mezzanine Gallery, the spring/summer 1996 “Trompe L’oeil” collection almost makes you feel like you were looking at pictures of clothes, rather than the garment itself. Each item of clothing is printed with the picture of a different garment in black and white, sepia or brown. According to the exhibition catalogue, a cardigan is printed “with photographic print of a safari jacket”, a v-neck dress “with sequined retro evening dress”. A camera in the corner of the room flickers through retro images and flowers and projects them on a dress sculpted from a duvet.
Elsewhere, a bustier dress is the focal point of the dark “XXXL” a side room. It is oversized and would not look out of place on Alice in Wonderland when she nibbles “the eat me” treat and shrinks to the floor.
Elsewhere again, a visual installation shows Maison clients trying on their Margiela clothes. The sofas around the centre of the room provide a comfortable place to spend an hour or two looking at the visual displays that circle the edges of the walls.
This exhibition really makes Margiela’s fashion come to life. This is by far one of the best fashion shows London has hosted so far. It is more than a bunch of clothes on hangers. All the garments are brought to life by all the little added details. You could spend hours going over each piece over and over again, you would still find things that you had missed the first time around. The whole experience is mystifying and gives you a real understanding of how this fashion house creates such wonderful clothing.
Maison Martin Margiela ‘20’ The Exhibition
At Somerset House
Strand
London
WC2R 1LA
Daily 10.00-18.00, until 20.00 Thursdays
Embankment Galleries, South Wing
£6, conc £5, under 12s free
Words Jennifer Butler
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