Saturday 31 December 2011

Sveta Sotnikova


Sveta Sotnikova

Entitled, "De Fabrica", Sveta Sotnikova's final year project, and her first brand collection inspired for S/S 12, is a fascination with the construction of the human body. Set the difficult task of using leather; an unforgiving texture with very little room for error, but a welcomed challenge; she explores her fetish for leather, yet more importantly, demonstrates the skilful craftmanship of the London-based designer and delves into a world of darkness to produce cutting edge designs.
Using blue prints - to assist with the pattern design - to construct the hand-crafted pieces is a daring attempt at juxtaposing femininty and the fragility of the leather in search of inner strength and power, notwithstanding the beauty and emphasis of quality. The manipulation and tangible layers of leather gravitates to exposing the most intimate images of restructuring the human form. Forever an unconvetional form of applying architectural design to fashion, this collection's stringent attention to detail appeals to the unconventional woman whose strength is not for the fainthearted.
Images Courtesy of Spindlemagazine.com
Already snapped up by POP PR for her architectural spin on the construction of avant-garde designs, the newly graduate of London College of Fashion is fast heading in the direction of her own inspirational designers of Ricardo Tisci at Givenchy and the new generation of greats for their take on couture like Gareth Pugh and Christopher Kane.

Sunday 18 December 2011

A Flurry of Colour is Malene Oddershede Bach


Image courtesy ofhttp://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrrnniwDK61r1vcveo3_500.jpg

Winner of Vauxhall Fashion Scouts, ‘Ones to Watch’, Malene Oddershede Bach’s colourful rendition of Spring/Summer 12 is a captivating collection of excitement and energy.
Born in Denmark, the young Dane moved to the UK almost eight years ago to study fashion at Middlesex University. Having firmly settled in the creative and cultural scene, that is London, the flourishing designer’s talent has not gone a miss in the industry, and subsequently gained fashion credential as Assistant Fashion Designer at Preen by Thornton Bregazzi to move on to create a brand that has everyone talking.
Inspired by neon-lit nightlife of Tokyo at the heart of Gaspar Noe’s, ‘Enter the Void’, Malene’s 14 piece collection magnifies a flurry of exquisite colours – electric pinks, canary yellows and opulent turquoise with a flash of black throughout. 
 Images courtesy of blinklondon.com

With a strong focus on textiles and textures, invisible to the naked eye, the obtrusive use of psychedellic prints - from the scales on a butterflies wings, were clear influences of nature and surrounding environments.
 
Image courtesy of malebeoddershedebach.com

What has become her signature looks of unusual cut-outs, digital prints and leather pieces with sculpted shoulder and misplaced arms were a direct link with science fiction horror film ‘Videodrome’ by David Cronenberg.
 
Image courtesy of pushitmagazine.com


Image courtesy of retoxmagazine.com


Image courtesy of businessoffashion.com


With a vibrant vivacious colour palette, unusual cut-outs and digitised prints,  the London based designer’s signature style has already gained a strong following from celebrities alike.

Image courtesy of Malene Oddershede Bach facebook.com

Between freelancing as a pattern cutter and working full-time in the city of London, as a Creative Consultant, Malene work ethic is something to admired and clearly inspired by the different environments she finds herself in.
To take a closer look at Malene, please visit www.maleneoddershedebach.com 

Sunday 4 December 2011


Take a Walk on the Dark Side with Zyanya Keizer

 
Images Courtesy of Forestial.com
“Inspired by the armour of insects combined with soft obscurity of a forest by nightfall”, Zyanya Keizer is the dark knight behind the collection entitled, “Ocultos Entre El Bosque” or translated as “hidden in the woods.”
Image Courtesy of FashionBlogAmsterdam.blog.com
Born in Mexico City, the 26 year-old studied at the Fashion Academy in Antwerp. Although she did not gradaute, she finished the collection independently. She presented her first collection during Amsterdam International Fashion Week in January this year. Based on the surrealistic combination of nature and man-made environments, taking inspiration from American artist, Roxy Paine, for his interpretation on human attempts to control the natural creative processes of life, and Mike Libby, another American artist, whose use of insects and technological components to explore the  contravention of nature and technology; the young avant garde designer has created a fairytale of dark mysterious but alluring craftsmanship of unconventional yet highly detailed sculptures, in the form of beautiful garments emphasising the human figure, to express her view of reality and fantastical futuristic forest. 

 
Images Courtesy of FashionBlogAmsterdam.blog.com
The young designer delves into the idea of what cannot be seen with the naked eye, but can be sensed by way of intensive detail of iron balls, sequins and carefully hand-stitched patterns, intertwined with leather and sheer textures to assemble inflexibility to exaggerated predictions of allusions to a somewhat unpredictable conclusion that beauty can conquer turmoil and disaster.
Image Courtesy of Coda-Apeldoorn.nl
 In the league of Iris Van Herpen, her designs are considered 'works of art'. An impressive expression of structural and architectural quality and her use of using diverse fabrics and materials screams an inviting imagination of a functional ready-to-wear collection. 
Image Courtesy of xxlafamigliaxx.blogpsot.com


Meet Kirsty Doyle...


Winner of the UK's prestigous fashion design competition Project Catwalk in 2006, British designer Kirsty Doyle's S/S 12 collection is every inch of sophistication and elegance, but with a contemporary twist.
Image Courtesy of Liverpool Daily Post
 
The young designer's S/S 12 collection is a sophisticated woman enjoying the elegance of the summer, dressed in dark magneta's, bisque and whites and grafik wild prints in beautifully origami inspired with loose cannon drapings supported with fine detailing of 'pretty in pink' and 'the colour of purple' bows to emphasise the classic feminine silhouette.

Image Courtesy of Kirsty Doyle on Facebook
 
A graduate from Liverpool John Moores University and the world class Central St Martins, Kirsty Doyle is every bit an entrepenneur. She independently made a name for herself from selling at a Liverpool craft market to securing and establishing an aspirational brand as part of the largest state-of-the-art retail complex - Liverpool ONE.
Check out the designers website www.kirsty-doyle.com 

Saturday 12 November 2011

Gaga goes "Gagalocious" for Rebecca Short


"Never in a million years would I have ever imagined I would be dressing celebrities, let alone one of the biggest fashion icons of all time; it’s a huge honour!"
 

Images Courtesy of My Daily 

We all know Lady Gaga is no stranger to making headline news with her eccentric-outrageous yet stylishly artistic vision of fashion, however in this instance, it was 'who' she wore that caused just as much intrigue as 'what' she wore, to spark an international frenzy from fashionistas alike.

Unbeknown to many, including the designer herself, the pop diva opted to wear the creation of an unknown British fashion design student, above and beyond the giants from McQueen to Armani, for her latest escapade. The extravagant oversized beige dress, with exaggerated shoulders, made out of the fabric neoprene (rubber), more commonly used for wetsuits; raised eyebrows and word began to spread very quickly to find out who was the 'talent' behind this unusual design.
 
Image Courtesy of Birmingham City University

It was the vision and artistic nature of Birmingham City University graduate, Rebecca Short, who stole the headline with her three dimensional experimental work focusing on shape and the female form, that would ultimately catch the eye of the Lady Gaga's stylist,  who asked to borrow the dress for the fashion icon to wear at a major press conference in Sinagpore, after she spotted the dress  on the catwalk of London's Graduate Fashion Week (GFW).

 
Image Courtesy of Rebecca Short

The star-studded dress was part of the final project for her degree. Made up of six pieces, she presented the collection at the event solely for the best BA graduate fashion design talent in the UK, in June this year. We had a chance to catch up with the young designer to share her creative visions for her work, future and amazing achievement to date; the dress she designed for Lady Gaga.
When and why did you choose fashion (design)?
My mum taught me how to use a sewing machine at a young age, so I was always attempting to make things for me and my friends to wear (often unsuccessfully). I really enjoyed textiles at school and carried this on at ‘A’ level where I became more and more interested in fashion. After starting my degree in fashion design, I knew it was where I wanted my future to lie. I love the quick moving, exciting pace of the industry, and I enjoy the fact that no two days are the same! 
What was your creative vision for the collection?
My collection was inspired by the concept of negative space and the works of artists, Rachel Whitread and Gordon Matta-Clark and minimalist artists, Donald Judd and John Pawson, whose work led me to experiment with a number of three dimensional draping and cutting techniques.
Aiming to produce a collection that is stripped back, clean cut, with the focus on shape and form, minimalism too was a key element. I chose a muted colour palette of grey and beige hues to compliment the Autumn/Winter season.     
Images Courtesy of Artsthread

What inspires and influences your designs?
I draw a great deal of my inspiration from architecture and from visiting exhibitions. 
Who or what has been your greatest influence on your work?
I really admire the work of Jill Sander, Raff Simons and in particular Calvin Klein whose work is always so beautifully clean cut, fresh and modern. 
How would you define your work?
Stripped back, clean cut placing the emphasis on shape and form.
 
Images Courtesy of blog.artsthread.com

Who have you interned for other than “By Suzannah”? What have you learnt from those experiences? How will you apply what you learnt to your own work?
I carried out a number of interns whilst at university. The main one being, ‘By Suzannah’, a luxury womenswear designer, based in London, whom I now work for as a fashion design assistant to the head designer. I have also interned for womenswear designer label, ‘Harriets Muse’, and trend forecasting company, ‘The Trend Boutique.’ I strongly believe it’s extremely important to carry out as many internships as you can whilst studying, as it gives you invaluable first hand experience and a great insight into the jobs available; it really helps you to work out where you are best suited in the industry and helps put the skills you have gained into practise. 
What where your feelings when you discovered Lady Gaga chose to wear one of your designs and how has that impacted your career thus far? 
It was such an overwhelming and dream like experience! I feel so lucky to have achieved something like this fresh out of university; it makes all the hard work feel like it has been worth it! Never in a million years would I have ever imagined I would be dressing celebrities let alone one of the biggest fashion icons of all time, it’s a huge honour! 
With the fashion  industry and one of the best-selling artists of all time and fashion icon of the moment taking a sound interest in her work, it is clear Rebecca Short has a prosperous future ahead in design.  You can view Rebecca's work at www.rebeccashort.com  or follow her on Twitter@RebeccaShort98 or simply send her an email at r-short@hotmail.co.uk.

Monday 7 November 2011

Iris Van Herpen...


"People who work for major designers tell me they don't have the time to develop new techniques. I want to give myself this time to do it, since nobody else will do it."


If this is Haute Couture at its finest then it could only be the work of Iris Van Herpen. A remarkable talent of Dutch origin, has made a name for herself to inspire revolutionary concepts to the professional methods to the art of fashion design. The avant-garde designer's use of 3D rapid laser prototyping techniques, to achieve outlandish and amazing accents adds depth and meaning to the concept of 'High Fashion', and notably, has gained critical acclaim from the international fashion press as 'Couture' at its best.  


A graduate from Artez Acadmey in 2006, Van Herpen completed internships with Alexander McQueen, Claudy Jongstra and Viktor & Rolf, before striking out on her own in 2007.  And since then, the 28 year-old's fascination to inspire and dream has shown her collections, 'Fragile Futurity''Chemical Crows','Refinery Smoke', 'Mummification', Escapism Couture'' at Fashion weeks in her native Amsterdam, London, Berlin and Paris.

"Fragile Futurity" 

"Refinery Smoke"

"Mummification"

However, it was the Fall/Winter 2011-2012 collection, 'Capriole' at Paris Haute Couture week that has really catapulted the young designer in a league of her own as a designer of Haute Couture. Her interpretation of architecture and sculptural allure, that could be described as  'architectural fashion', was a reciprocal of beauty and regeneration of energies, mixing beautiful transparent sheets, organzas, leathers and wire and intricate fringing detailing the process of techniques and materials with dramatic appearances.

"Capriole"

The young conceptual designer's reinvention of  form, combined with hand-made pieces and new digital technology to produce abstract designs using unusual materials to elaborately construct fashion that resmebles art as beautiful representations of futuristic elegance.


Although her creations are not wearable, massed-produced or functional, they are uniquely crafted pieces that are an expression of van Herpens' definition of how 'art' can be used to describe the 'unique woman and [extend] the shape of the feminine body in detail' and the challenge to creatively fulfill her "philosphy of re-evaluating reality because the notion of reality is just as subjective as the notion of art." 


Saturday 29 October 2011

And the winner of Fashion Fringe 2011 is...Fyodor Golan


And the winner of Fashion Fringe 2011 is...Fyodor Golan

The platform for emerging talent really overstepped the mark with design duo, Fyodor Golan, as the 2011 winners of Fashion Fringe. Tipped as the 'new' creative giants set to take the fashion industry by storm, Golan Frydman and Fyodor Podgorny, are worlds apart by culture and traditions; Golan is Israeli with Moroccan and German roots and Fyodor is half Lativian and half Russian. Graduating from Istituto Marangoni in 2008, Golan moved to the UK, whilst Fyodor travelled back to London after graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Art in Antwerps in 2007.
Images courtesy of Fashion Fringe

The duo met  around four years ago, whilst accumulating a wide wealth of work experiences from the likes of Issey Miyake, Alexander Mcqueen, Raf Simons and Richard Nicoll, however the pair did not formally join forces until a year ago, when they launched their own label, Fyodor Golan in 2010, and showcased their debut A/W 11 collection,'Pagan Poetry', in February at London Fashion Week 2011. An exploration of the diverse cultures of tribal traditions  and Greek and Roman culture of paganism, this collection struck a chord, and ultimately led to their submission as finalists for this years competition. And although, it was this collection that brought the fashion forward frontiers to our attention, it was undoubtedly their S/S 12 collection that would grant them the winning prize. 

Images courtesy of London Fashion Week

The winning duo were inspired by Charles Baudelaires poetry, "Fleur du Mal", (a French poet, who explored the changing nature of beauty) and "the nature and presentation of beauty by Frida Kahlo and Vincent Van Gough and this story about a nymph-like woman who goes through a painful metamorphosis" and interestingly "becomes one with nature". 'Flowers of Evil', cultivates a collection that explores the power of nature and beauty as intricately intertwined as one.

Images courtesy of London Fashion Week

Corseted dresses to emphasise the womans' silhouette, the colour white represents her innocence and purity to signify her strength, but to distinct shades of canary yellow and pine green, the collection starts to create a vivid image of the gradual progression of nature. The dramatic styling of tangled locks, supported by the use of gold braces or interwoven locks and  high  collared necklines, to shadow expressions of pain and trauma; we can follow her ingenuos and unwordly journey to the dark and blusterous turmoil of nature in long black embellished pieces, without loosing sight of her beauty.


At a glance, it is breathtaking. This white beauty and sheer use of panelling embellished with flowers was strikingly beautiful and unforgetable.


Wearing a detailed black embellished beginnings of sparkling emerald greens and violet used as limbs, the evil force climbs its way, and nature starts to take over amongst the ruffled leather interiors - this is truly the work of two genuises. The use of the mature model can be considered as a defining moment as they delve into the aging notion of nature and beauty.

Images courtesy of London Fashion Week 

Monday 24 October 2011

LFW - The Rodnik Band S/S 12




The Rodnik Band's was a fusion of fashion and pop art. The ocean inspired collection, "Save The Sea", signified a fun-filled insight to a bold, yet fashionable move to re-ignite our perception of contemporary 21st century styles as energetic and forthcoming. Fashion meets Andy Warhol meets The Sex Pistols draws on conceptual designs with a strong punk rock musical influences for each piece, to take satire to 'wuthering heights' and absolutely reminds us of the love affair, that is fashion, but also to remind us about the force of fashion, as a tool to voice one's political beliefs, agendas and thoughts, and yet maintain reverence for the apparel as a medium to captivate a message embedded in his collection. 











Far from any traditionalist, Colbert's typical choice of quintessential attire for his message for fashion-seekers to relish in the creative talent that is, The Rodnik Band, yet not forget the responsibility we have to spread the word and get involved in more concerning matters of depth and meaning.