PLAYING BARBIE IN TEHRAN
TALA RAASSI, THE WOMAN BEHIND THE MISS UNIVERSE BIKINIS, STARTED OFF HER FASHION CAREER DRESSING UP HER BARBIES IN IRAN.
When she was little, Tala Raassi used to make clothes for her Barbies. But there was always one problem.
“I always felt like they needed more fabric,” recalls Tala of growing up in Iran, where strict Islamic laws mean ‘indecent clothing’ is illegal. Barbies are banned as they’re said to depict women in a bad light, so Tala used to collect them when she travelled abroad.
“I dressed like any teenager would, except we had to completely cover up in public,” she says.
“However, I kept getting in trouble at school for the type of shoes I wore or the backpacks I carried.”
But even under one of the world’s most brutal regimes, Tala and her other friends still oozed sophistication. Sunglasses and scarves from trendy boutiques in the capital Tehran were must-have accessories.
“Girls in Iran are very creative with the little fashion freedom they have,” Tala says.
“I always felt that the streets of Tehran looked like a fashion show.
“Iranian women actually wear so much make-up because their face is one of the only things shown in public.
“They can also be very creative with their chadors (the traditional long black robe covering the body from head to toe), especially the younger women.”
However, the more fashion-conscious Tala became, the more she earned the wrath of her parents.
She went on thinking she would become a lawyer – “There were only certain occupations suitable for a woman” – but one night in 1998 altered her path.
Arriving at a friend’s birthday party wearing the compulsory uniform, a scarf covering her hair, a black coat, and trousers underneath her skirt, once inside she threw her outfit aside, revealing a black t-shirt and miniskirt.
It wasn’t long into the celebrations that the religious police came knocking on the door, informing Tala and her 30 friends that they had broken the law for not being dressed properly. (They had also committed the crimes of listening to music not approved by the government and having a party with members of the opposite sex). It would later turn out that a friend, who had not been invited to join in the festivities, had reported them.
A police chase around the neighbourhood ensued, before the group was handcuffed and taken to the local prison.
After five days of sleeping on the floor in a squalid jail they were taken to the courtroom and sentenced to be lashed.
The women received 40 strikes, while the men were forced to endure 50 each. Tala’s family waited outside the room of the prison during her punishment, which lasted ten minutes.
“I do still think of what happened to us,” is all she will say when broached on the subject today.
“I think about the woman that go through similar things all the time.”
“I am who I am today because of what happened and I am putting it to good use.”
Despite throwing herself into her studies following her persecution, Tala was still struggling emotionally months later. After graduation, she decided a change of scenery would be good, so she went to Dubai to stay with friends.
Although Islamic dress code is not compulsory there, Tala saw sophisticated women who wanted to wear the traditional abaya, “expressing themselves beautifully”.
“They looked so much more powerful than the women who were forced by law to wear something they didn’t want to,” she recalls.
“Next to them, you would also see other women from the same region in other beautiful dresses and clothes.
“I realized then that I wanted to design clothing that would make women feel free, empowered, and beautiful.”
But upon her move to the US, her birth country, to pursue her new ambition, she ironically found the ‘flip flops, shorts and t-shirt style’ she constantly saw uninspiring.
“To me, women in the States don’t express their fashion sense and freedom as much as they could,” she says.
But getting her clothes stocked in boutiques across the US (Los Angeles, Miami and San Diego) as well as Dubai wasn’t easy. She had to master pattern making and learn how to run a business. However the biggest hurdle was learning English.
She began traveling to find inspiration and it was a Sao Paolo Fashion Week trip that inspired her to design swimsuits for women of different shapes, to make “all kinds of women feel sexy”
Her Dar Be Dar collection, consisting of triangle and strapless bikinis along with one-piece costumes, launched a year ago.
The title means ‘Door to door in Persian’ and is slang for someone who is all over the place to reflect her globetrotting lifestyle.
When her representative approached the Miss Universe officials about sponsorship earlier this year, they had already read her story in the local press and thought it would fit well with the contest’s aim to “empower young women”.
It was a race against time, but in two months she made 400 bikinis. More then 90 girls in the Miss Universe pageant sported her designs on stage at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Centre.
“I respect the women entering these pageants,” Tala says.
“They work hard for it. I think very highly of people that follow their dreams and do not take their freedom for granted.”
She is now working hard on her next project, her Lipstick Revolution t-shirt collection, inspired by Iran’s revolutionary movement. It will be released in spring/summer 2011, with all the profits donated to her charity. She hasn’t ruled out trying to have her swimsuits stocked in Iran.
“Fashion is not everything, there is so much to this world,” she says.
“But I believe fashion is something simple that helps people express their individuality and makes them feel good about themselves.
“When I got persecuted for wearing a mini-skirt, I started thinking of it as freedom. I realised fashion served a purpose for me – it made me feel free.”
To find out more see www.darbedar.net
Words Amy Fallon
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TATEOSSIAN: JEWELLERY WITH A HEART
THIS WINTER, HIGH-END JEWELER TATEOSSIAN WILL COLLABORATE WITH THE TERRENCE HIGGINS TRUST AND CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS FOR TWO VERY DIFFERENT EXCLUSIVE AND LIMITED EDITION LINES.
They’re usually relegated to the junk drawer, never to be worn again once the designated awareness day of the (insert charity name here) is over.
But now luxury jewellery house Tateossian, are collaborating with HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) to produce an exclusive limited edition bracelet to mark World AIDS Day that they hope will be worn beyond December 1.
The Italian leather and sterling silver unisex bracelet with a THT red enamel link is the brainchild of Tateossian CEO and jewellery designer Robert Tateossian, a THT supporter for many years, and the brand’s head of public relations Adrienne Cline.
“THT is an organization close to all our hearts at Tateossian. I like the idea of items that people will actually use and wear and take away and keep forever,” she said.
If the line is successful, Tateossian is hoping to collaborate with THT every season.
The bracelets will be sold exclusively in their four London stores and online in the lead-up to World AIDS Day, with 30 per cent of the proceeds going to THT.
“I’d definitely like to see more brands doing things like this,” Adrienne said.
It’s a busy time for Tateossian. They are also working also with Central Saint Martins (CSM) on a new ladies and men’s capsule collection designed by the college’s recent graduates.
Six students have been selected for this. Three will design the ladies range and three the men’s range.
Mentoring them is jewellery designer and CSM alumni Hannah Martin. They will be judged by Robert Tateossian, David Furnish, Vogue jewellery editor Carol Woolton, GQ editor Dylan Jones, The Sunday Times columnist AA Gill, Christie’s Advisory Board Chairman Pedro Girao and Tateossian’s Creative Director, Ariel Thompson.
The chosen designers will be announced on September 9, with the overall winner named on November 24. The successful pieces will be available exclusively in Tateossian stores from December.
“It’s a really interesting and really diverse way of finding new talent that aren’t already working in the industry,” said Adrienne.
“We could have done it with a few other colleges, but CSM was definitely top of my wish list.”
She said that she expected some really inspiring pieces, with some “really interesting plays on the fact that it’s our 20th anniversary.”
“There will be some very masculine pieces, some very innovative pieces, comprising of metals and stone,” she said.
“You can see some statement ladies pieces coming through. We’ve very excited.”
As with clothes, Adrienne said that more people wanted to own something different and post-recession customers were also buying “less rubbish”.
Topshop and Freedom were “for what they are too expensive”.
“It’s so high fashion and it’s so over the top that it’s not reciprocal,” Adrienne said.
“I think when you do something that’s got a bit of an edge, people know there just aren’t millions of, it’s kind of much more exciting and people are much more inclined to spend more.
“The aim with these students is to get them to design something absolutely fantastic and unique and different but to also think about who is going to be their customer – who’s going to wear that, how is it going to sit on someone’s neck, is it going to irritate them.”
“Is it something they can wear at the time or something they can wear now and again that’s for an evening dress, that is really special and really different?”
Tateossian has also recently launched this season’s ladies rare stone collection.
When the brand was established in 1990 it was only for men. But due to demand from clients all over the world, a ladies’ collection was launched eight years ago. However, the men’s collection is still so vast that they do 150 new additions each season to their cufflink range.
Their products now sell in Russia, China and South America, among other places, with famous fans including everyone from models Sophie Dahl and Eva Herzigova (both recently snapped wearing a white Scoubi Dou leather bracelet by the label), to former pop star Sinitta and The Emir of Kuwait.
Words Amy Fallon
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RAIDING GRANDMA’S JEWELLERY BOX
INSPIRED BY THEIR LATE GRANDMOTHER LILY BLANCHE’S ASSORTMENT OF EXOTIC JEWELS BROUGHT BACK FROM HER DAYS LIVING IN RAJ-ERA INDIA, SCOTTISH SISTERS GILLIAN CRAWFORD AND LYNDSEY BOWDITCH, HAVE LAUNCHED A NEW JEWELLERY COLLECTION NAMED AFTER HER.
For many people, working with a family member would be the making of a nightmare but for Edinburgh-based sisters Gillian Crawford and Lyndsey Bowditch, it is proving a winning partnership.
“We used to fight as kids, but have a very symbiotic relationship now”, explains Gillian. In their relatively short career as jewellery designers — Gillian used to work in media, but launched her first jewellery and gifts collection Tartan Twist with Lyndsey in 2008 — they have already been shortlisted for Jewellery Designer of the Year 2010 at The Scottish Fashion Awards.
The pair are hoping their new range, Lily Blanche Edinburgh, launched at this month’s International Jewellery Show in London, will continue their string of success. Described by Gillian as “glamorous and romantic, with the aesthetic of Audrey Hepburn”, the most distinctive pieces—including the Eternal Pearls — have a strong vintage feel, tieing in to the Hepburn hair seen on girls at Prada’s autumn/winter 2010 show and the nostalgic mood of this season’s make-up.
“The collection is based around our grandmother Lily Blanche, born at the turn of the 20th century,” explain Gillian. “She was a kind of everywoman: she travelled, had children, lived through the war and was bombed out of her house, and could still knock up a wedding dress from bits and pieces and look stunning.”
Gillian says that as children, she and Lyndsey enjoyed visiting Lily, who was tucked away in a croft in the Outer Hebrides, and sifting through all of her treasures. “She lived in India when she was younger and before that her husband was stationed in China so she had a lot of exotic pieces. We’ve taken vintage designs inspired by her jewel box and given them a modern twist. We have tried to bring something light-hearted and fun.” Embodying this playfulness is the Peapod Necklace.
Made with a mix of sterling silver, British-sourced freshwater pearls, and Italian Murano glass, pieces in the collection will retail from £40 to £200 and Gillian hopes they will give the likes of Dower & Hall a run for their money. “What makes this collection stand out is the element of surprise; so many of the things open up, like the Memory Keeper Sphere.”
Words Hannah Davies
JOSEFIN STRID INTERVIEW
SWEDEN HAS PRODUCED SOME GREAT THINGS; IKEA, ABBA, MEATBALLS AND DALA HORSES. WHAT IT HASN’T BEEN SO RENOWNED FOR, HOWEVER, IS IT’S FASHION DESIGNERS. BUT WITH JOSEFIN STRID, THAT’S ABOUT TO CHANGE.
Strid caused something of a stir when she decided include skirts in one of her collections- for men, that is. And there’s more to come. “The real skirts won’t be revealed until in February. The collection that I showed during (the most recent) Stockholm Fashion Week is a feminine, flowery collection of menswear. The reactions vary a lot, but I think it’s exciting. I have this one at my PR agency now and I can barely wait until the spring when I’ll see it in magazines. I want people to react, to feel something. Not only wanting to just wear the black t-shirt with their favourite jeans.”
A designer of both mens- and womenswear, Strid says it’s not always a conscious decision to design for men or for women. “It depends on my source of inspiration. When I was inspired by flowers, I didn’t even think about womenswear, it would have been too obvious, that’s already done so many times. Sometimes I find it easier with menswear, since I don’t relate to how it is to wear it myself. I find myself a bit more innovative with menswear sometimes. But I am very interested in the border between masculine and feminine and I like to explore that, working with menswear and womenswear in the same collection and style everything for everyone, without it being unisex.”
Strid has always favoured taking an unconventional approach to fashion. In the past she often opted for creating smaller-scale ‘projects’ in fashion, rather than putting together entire collections . “I used to do that (the projects) more, but I do still do them. I always do a collection for each season now, you have to do that, and you have to be on time to be a part of the whole press thing with magazines and stylists. But I still do projects and freelance things when I feel like it. I want to be able to decide myself what to do and I want to enjoy my work. I like to collaborate if it tempts me.” Recently, such collaborations have included styling for MODS Magazine, a music film, a dress for Swerea, and tentative plans for a small capsule collection, which will be for sale in December.
Strid also produces custom designs outside of her collections. “It’s good for the economy to do freelance projects. But I only do them if I’ll enjoy it. It’s another challenge to work for someone, to give them what they want and not only what I want. I think it’s a good way to understand other people, to be able to collaborate and not be selfish. When I work for myself I often have a much longer process before I see the end result, much more experimentation, toiling and so on. I always want to know so much and explore the subject I work with, to learn something new. I could do that when freelancing, but I don’t think anyone would like to pay me to read several books, stroll in the nature and whatever else I start my process with,” she smiles.
The start of the process is inevitably drawing inspiration for designs. For her 2008 collection, this included Tim Burton’s films, and inspiration is something which always shows through in Strid’s imaginative collections. “Films are often inspiring, the AW11 collection is inspired by The Piano Teacher. Films and travelling are the most inspiring things for me, and sometimes music.” It’s clear that travel is key to Strid’s collections. “I travel a lot and what I see at my trips often make me want to create something. Nature is fascinating, and I like the break you get when you’re surrounded by nature. Last summer I strolled around a lot in the parks of London and in Kew Gardens. I simply watched the flowers and then I based a whole collection on that. This summer I was in the US, visiting national parks like Yellowstone, Zion and Grand Canyon. It was nice to hike, wear comfortable clothes and just be with my family there. The whole experience influenced me and maybe I’ll do something with all the photos I took.”
Shoulders are always a focal point in Strid’s collections. So why the fascination with an area which, excepting AW 09 and the 80s, so often gets overlooked? “I used to work with big shoulders, like the 80’s siloutte, but I’ve toned it down now. I think it’s based on my foundation as a tailor. I think it’s very important how the sleeve is attached to the garment, how much bearing it has and how it works with the body. You can do both subtle and extreme things with shoulders that make a big difference.”
Strid grew up in a small town called Ulricehamn, spending her summers swimming in the lakes and winters snowboarding. As a child she spent her time playing sports and musical instruments, but this soon gave way to needlework when she bought her first sewing machine aged 15, and “since that day I’ve been kind of addicted.” This coincided with the development of her own personal style. “When I was 14, I got more money so I could buy my own clothes every month. I started to buy second-hand and styled myself in a very extraordinary way every day.” Though she was studying music at secondary school, all of her spare time was consumed by sewing. This hobby was to provide the foundation for her career as her designer.
“I wasn’t like the other kids at the age of 15-19,” she admits. “I was very serious- I had my first fashion show when I was 15 and after that I had one each season, as the real designers did. I really studied all of the designers and their collections at style.com. I stitched in the afternoons and sometimes during the nights as well.”
Her dedication to fashion soon paid off. As soon as she had enough clothes to form a collection, she put on a fashion show at school, roping in friends to model her designs and contacting the local press to cover the event. Strid then started to sell her clothes directly to the luxury boutique in her town. By the time she was 19, she had gone on to study sewing and patternmaking at university in Borås and was also selling her pieces in a store there, as well as in the store in her hometown.
Despite the remarkable achievement of having her own business before she had even left university, Strid decided to put her own label on hold at the end of 2006 in order to concentrate on building her portfolio. In spite of her promise as a fashion designer, Strid found herself rejected from both the Swedish School of Textiles and Central Saint Martins in London. In 2007, Strid moved out of her parents’ home and to Borås to spend a year learning men’s tailoring. Strid sees it as a turning point: “It was something different, and it felt like home. I liked to do the hand stitching, to be accurate, to let things take their time. I did lots of creative projects that year- an outfit for the superwoman who’ll save the world, two outfits in steel and leather for a steel company, and of course men’s suits.”
The following year, Strid reapplied for the SSOT and Central Saint Martins. “I did the application for Swedish School of Textiles again, working from 8.30am until 2am every day for three months, to make totally sure I had a good portfolio. I wasn’t accepted at St Martins, but I did the test for SSOT and was accepted. I was happy with that and forgot about London for a while.”
Strid resurrected her business in 2008, after a fashion fair in Gothenburg introduced her to a PR agency and helped her to develop a sales channel. This coincided with the start of her fashion design course at SSOT. Strid juggled studying with running her own brand, putting together an entire collection for her own label whilst studying. Fortunately, it was a success. Stylists based in Stockholm were frequently calling in her pieces for shoots, and Strid’s brand began to grow. Yet just as her career began to take off, she decided to take a break once again; this time to focus on her BA after realising that the pressures of running her own label alongside full-time study were too great. But before long people began to wonder where Strid and her designs were, and as a result came her ‘big boom’; orders started rolling in once again, as did scholarship offers. Finally, Strid got a studio and began to work on projects for UGG and Swerea.
It’s been intense, as the designer herself admits. “This summer I worked full time for around 100 hours per week. I had an intern and a tailor working with me and we finished both the SS and AW ’11 collections, did the photoshoots and shot a film.”
“Sometimes I make a pair of tights in one hour, and sometimes I make couture-like pieces that take 100-150 hours each,” she continues. “Sometimes things just need time. And I like to have ongoing projects. I have one huge dress in the AW11 collection that took me about 130 hours to make, and you can really see it. Then I have one cocktail dress that’s braided, and one crocheted dress from two earlier collections that took the same time, but you wouldn’t guess it.”
But all the hard work has certainly paid off, especially given the reception to Strid’s showing of her collection at Stockholm Fashion Week. “It was great and a good opportunity to be seen. And I had a great day with all my male models, they were so very nice and the atmosphere was very relaxed. But next time I want to have a big ‘boom’ show, a whole concept for everyone and I don’t want a single person walking away without thinking and feeling something. It’s important to inspire people and make them reflect over what they see.”
Strid admits that Sweden’s fashion industry has a long way to go before it can compare to the likes of London or Paris. “Maybe in the future, but not right now. Lots of brands leave Stockholm Fashion Week to show in London and Copenhagen. That’s a pity, since it could be so good (if they stayed). But I think it would be hard for Stockholm to ever become that big. Sweden is a small country and the brands there are quite commercial. If everyone would dare to overstate ten times more than they do now, they could come a bit closer.”
Words Kay Weston Images Henrik Bengtsson/Imaginara
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BRYCE AIME INTERVIEW
YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF BRYCE AIME, BUT YOU SOON WILL. THE DESIGNER BEHIND RIHANNA’S SPIKY-SHOULDERED ‘HARD’ GET-UP CHATS TO AGENT2’S AMY FALLON ABOUT THE LADY HERSELF, AND WHY GREEN TEA AND FASHION ARE ‘THE SAME’…
Bryce Aime tells me to throw out the Starbucks hot chocolate I’ve been drinking on the tube before we walk into Le Pain Quotidien at Notting Hill Gate.“I’ll get you another one,” he insists.
It’s not just grey today in London, it’s bucketing down. I’m also ten minutes late. Aime only lives around the corner so there are no dramas. But I get the impression that even if he lived on the other side of town, he wouldn’t have made a big fuss. As far as rising designers and accessibility go, he’s pretty laid back, doing his own calls and emails. In fact it was Aime who insisted on having a face-to-face interview. Then again the 2005 Central Saint Martins (CSM) graduate is known to serve customers himself at his shop on Walton Street in Chelsea.
“I’m sure there are some designers who do this, who push the passion to that point of actually coming down to the shop from time to time,” he says, shrugging his shoulders as his green tea arrives.“It’s important for you to see this in your own eyes because when you design, when you create a product, you are hoping it will sell.
“You have to understand that process, so when you design something you have to almost imagine the clothes hanging on the shop floor and how to they look, how are they perceived.
“Then at some point you start to realise that you should be doing this instead of that and this is how you get better in especially in terms of sales.”
Ah yes, sales. When the store first opened in November last year, things were “to be perfectly frank, a bit difficult at the beginning” Aime admits.
“It wasn’t a great time and it was hard as a newcomer,” he says.“But we had this opportunity, this great space, so we kind of jumped into it. After February things started to really pick up and we had some great sales over the summer.”
Of course Aime, 31, who hails from the 17th district of Paris, is in good company. But having your boutique in the same vicinity as Jean Paul Gaultier, Jasper Conran and Joseph also means competition.
“It’s an interesting mix but I must say also say as it’s an upper-class area, it’s (the fashion) very neat. It’s very clean, it’s very elegant,” says Aime of the West London set. “They are classic in the way they dress up. They’re never going to be very eccentric, very individual. It’s only about YSL and Chanel.
“But for other designers such as me – and there’s more than me, there’s a hundred of us – it’s a little bit difficult for us to reach our people basically.”
By “our people” he is referring to east London, where the locals are a “little bit more trendy but have less money”. Aime has just moved his office there. To Old Street, to be more precise.
Despite being so hands-on in some areas he describes his working quarters as resembling an “architect’s office”.
“I have very few rolls of fabric. We are not a factory!” insists the designer, who says he eventually wants to be stocked in the world’s leading department stores, but will first spend a few seasons perfecting his product and cementing its identity in the market.
Aime’s clothes are made in the Loiret in north-central France, where Balenciaga is also produced (an inspiration of Aime’s, along with fellow Francophone Thierry Mugler).
He is currently working on his LFW collection, Asiarama. The inspirations were his Japanese assistant Takashi, the Beijing opera – “it’s amazing” – and the Japanese theatre play Kabuki.
“I really like this region, China, Japan, Thailand,” says Aime, whose trader wife Xiaohui has been based in Beijing but is back in Britain permanently soon. “I think you either hate it or love it.I wanted to do something like this two or three seasons ago but I wasn’t ready as I needed to understand a few things culturally.
“For me it’s important to understand the people. They kind of inspired me to do something, so I had to make a trip there.”
His A/W 10 collection, Egyptology, also appeared to have been based around a particular culture. Models sported structured body con dresses from the range, with big sweatbands around their head transforming them into “mummies”.
Aime has however actually never been to Egypt, will “probably never go there”, and says he wouldn’t base an entire collection around one civilization.
“Generally speaking, it’s not about culture all the time. It just happened like that,” he reveals.“When you start being too rich, especially culturally speaking, you have to be careful because we’re in England, we’re in Europe. We have our own interpretations of things and clichés.
“And frankly I don’t think we’re prepared to associate clothes of everyday wear with something that’s quite strong, culturally speaking.
“You can have one or two pieces here or there, but to do a full collection like that… I cannot risk myself too much.”
His next offering – currently “20 per cent there” – will be “a complete different thing”, he promises.“The title is done, the colour is done, the silhouette we need to define better because it’s just sketched here and there,” is all Aime will say.
As usual it has been created with only has one female in mind: his “fictional woman”.
“It’s more the way she talks, she way she walks, the way she behaves, what she says,” describes Aime, who will only show in Paris again next season.
“I can’t imagine really it depends on your mood. But she’s quite strong generally speaking. She’s not girly. There’s a thin line between masculinity and femininity. I think that she’s like that.”
I must look a bit bewildered, because he elaborates, “We don’t want 100 per cent woman. She doesn’t wear the clothes to be somebody else. The clothes are wearing her. It’s a personality… We don’t transform her every season we just carry on.”
Speaking of the clothes wearing his “fictional woman”, what does he think of stars such as Rihanna wearing his own creations? In her video clip for 2009 single Hard, the singer donned a low cut, lethal-looking “couture-military” creation with spiked sleeves, as she brandished an apparent machine gun.
“I think it’s important. Everyone in the industry will tell you this and the one who says otherwise is a liar. We need, anybody needs, a little bit of an endorsement and nowhere more than fashion because fashion is relying on an image,” Aime says.
“Unfortunately – I hate to say this – the first thing you see is the image. And if you like the image you’re pretty convinced. Anything goes from there. If that person is well perceived or it’s a big A-lister wearing your stuff it’s a tremendous bonus. But it’s a big spectrum and the celebrity thing is only one part…”
For someone now dressing the rich and famous, Aime says it’s actually “really an accident” that he ended up in fashion. He never drew when he was young and was “absolutely rubbish at school”, only caring about philosophy, literature and history.
“I never dressed my dolls. I never wore makeup or played with my Mum’s stuff,” he recalls.“I used to build cities made of cardboard, toilet paper. I used to like to use my hands.”
It was the desire to learn English that brought him to Britain in the summer of 1998 when he was 19. The decision didn’t go down too well with his parents, both doctors. “But I think I had to go away,” Aime says. “I needed some reality checks. I wasn’t a bad kid but I was in my own world.”
After waiting tables and even hitting the decks in some “really shit places that don’t even exist today”, he concluded- while working a double shift in a restaurant- that he had no direction and needed a return to study.
Law and science were not for him. So he applied to do evening classes in fine arts at CSM. Aime was unaware then of the esteemed reputation that the college had.
He decided to stick with fashion, beginning portfolio classes to prepare himself for interviews. “I stuck with fashion and overnight I went from very little…” Aime trails off.
Despite the rag trade being a hard business, he says that it is at least forgiving. And never dull. “The reward is this: you’re allowed to make some mistakes. Every season your try your luck and you try and be consistent also to your work and your beliefs. You’ve got to be prepared to take criticism because as I said it’s all about images and it’s very subjective,” he explains.
“Not everybody likes green tea. Fashion is the same. I quite like that and I like the competition, for most. “There is a competition but it’s not really an in-your-face competition. It’s more about the tension, the adrenaline, the stress inside and out of your studio, the deadline.
“And then it comes again – but in a different manner, in different people, in a different season. It’s a cycle. You can’t get bored.”
And bored is the very last thing you could be when Bryce Aime is around.
Words Amy Fallon Images Andres Reynaga Hair and make-up Justin Williams
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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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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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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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