For the Fall 2018 instalment of their film campaign series French fashion house Kenzo tapped their co-creative director Humberto Leon for his directorial debut in the creation of their latest picture “The Everything.”
The film is a light-hearted narrative of a family of teenagers who brought together by their mutual peculiar superpowers.
Actress extraordinaire Milla Jovovich leads as the matriarch of the mutant squad which also includes actors Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smith-Mcphee and Sasha Frolova. Also featured, are actors Regina Hall and Jay Ellis along with a special appearance by filmmaker Spike Jonze. “The Everything” features Kenzo’s FW18 collection, along with pieces from La Collection Momento N°3 which is a collection of garments inspired by the brand’s archives. The film is to be released on the brand’s site on September 8th.
Kenzo FW18 by Ethan James GreenKenzo FW18 by Ethan James Green
A new exhibition at Red Hook Labs this September looks to immerse audiences in an anarchic and imagined world.
Entitled ‘Soft Criminal’ the new exhibition brings together the work of three creatives: South African photographer Kristin-Lee Moolman, Sierra-Leonean designer Ibrahim Kamara and British designer Gareth Wrighton.
The collaboration between the three artists is set around an imagined story line about characters from the African diaspora. Soft Criminal centres around three families wrestling for power and explores the tension not only between individuals but between tradition and progress. In the story an old King is deposed by a “new money hacktivists” and an anarchic war lord.
The exhibition at Red Hook Labs will open with a live show featuring 22 hand-made designs alongside a display of photographs taken of the collection by Moolman in South Africa.
This exhibition at Red Hook Labs is the latest of an ongoing series of work between Moolman, Kamara and Wrighton. The group have also exhibited together at Somerset House and collaborated on a zine.
Poignant and evocative expected your imagination to be sparked and the impact of the trio’s vision to stay long after you leave the exhibition.
Soft Criminal, Red Hook Labs, September 12th – 23rd, 2018.
American-born Central Saint Martin third-year fashion design student Harris Reed has quickly became on of the most recent names to know in fashion.
With his natural appetite for androgyny fused with an impeccable taste in design, Reed has found himself gaining attention from celebrities such as Solange Knowles and Troye Sivan. He’s also designed collections exclusively for singer-songwriter Harry Styles. Only a few months ago , the designer was tapped by Gucci to take over their instagram stories during the Cruise 2019 show and to debut on the runway himself in Arles, France.
Twin contributor Jordan Anderson sits down with the creative to decipher the details of his whirlwind of success.
Harry Styles sporting one of Reed’s looks during a performance.
Jordan Anderson (JA) : First of all I have to ask, what were your exact thoughts walking down that aisle for Gucci in Arles?
Harris Reed (HR) : I remember the one thought going through my head was that this is it, this is the beginning of it all. With all the editors from all sorts of magazines that I’ve admired sitting in the audience, it was just kind of this overwhelming feeling knowing that I am one of the only designers that is being supported in this way by such huge brand. After all the hard work I put in, and am still putting in, this was like the best sort of graduation anyone could ever have.
JA: What’s an average day like in the life of Harris reed?
HR: Lately it’s been waking up at 7am and attending to emails, running out to get coffee and starting to do research on different things happening around London. I usually visit the National Portrait Gallery and other art exhibitions around town where I often find inspiration for my work.
Some days I’ll return home and do interviews all evening or some days I’ll stay up sewing until 4 a.m, but pretty much the bulk of my days involve emails, research and sewing.
JA: The title of your last collection was the “The Lost Romantic Boys of the Edwardian Summer Holiday.” What was the story behind it?
HR: The collection I did before this was a 13 look compilation for Harry Styles, which was what kind of led me to this project. That entire collection was inspired by the summers I spent down at the seaside in England with my grandparents. All the men in my family are kind of men of the sea and I’ve always felt kind of like the odd one out. It’s sort of a play on my interpretation of what I would look like if I was to ever be come one these characters.
A look from a previous collection of the designer.
JA: What’s your design process like?
HR: I always start with a very strong character. Then I create a narrative around this persona and from there I dive into the design process through collaging, which is where I create a silhouette. It’s always a constant back and forth between collaging and working with the physical pieces as feel is very important to me in the creation of these characters. I end up doing a lot of hands on work while doing my sketching and collaging at the same time.
JA: People often label your work as androgynous, but do you consider yourself a menswear or womenswear designer?
HR: Even though I’m thinking about gender constantly when it comes to the physical design process I try not to imagine my characters as gendered. I imagine them more as fluid beings, it’s more about the body, the shapes, forms and the personality traits rather than all the labels.
So no, I wouldn’t place myself in either of those categories.
Singer Troye Sivan in a Harris Reed look
JA: If you could use one movie, a song, a poem or some type of media to define your work what would it be?
HR: It would surely be cross baby of the movies Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) and Orlando (1992) .
JA: When looking at your work, it’s noticeable that a lot of the pieces are quite similar to your personal style. Is your work a reflection of yourself?
HR: It’s quite funny because when I started designing, I noticed that the second I started making pieces that were for myself the response was much greater. I would definitely say that a lot of times my collections hold aspects of myself and my personality.
JA: Who is your work for?
HR: My work is for a very mixed group of people, from 16 year-old girls to 60 year old women. Everyone has a different perceptive on it: some people think it’s quite rock n roll, while some think it’s very tasteful and victorian like . It is for anyone who’s not afraid to dress up and understand that they’re going to spark conversation by wearing my pieces.
JA: I noticed when composing your look books and doing personal shoots that most of the models you use are black men. Was this intentional and why?
HR: I can never do anything for only the sake of being pretty or beautiful. I always have to be tackling issues that are important. For a short time in my life I did modelling and one of the things I noticed was the lack of diversity, so I always try to be as inclusive as possible. Also for me it’s more about the people I meet and their personalities. I would rather meet someone, get to know them and shoot them for my collection rather than just picking a random model from an agency.
Artiste Solange Knowles in a full look by Harris Reed
JA: Is a college education important for one wanting to be a designer ?
HR: It’s interesting because I’m obviously quite fortunate to have such great success before even completing university. However I’ve found CSM to be such an amazing experience. I look at the work I did a year ago and compare it to what I’m doing now and I see how I’ve experienced such enormous growth, and a lot of that was thanks to the professors and friends I’ve met here. So I think it’s good for growth. However I think there are some people who make it work without schooling . It just depends on the person. I would say it’s not mandatory, but it’s 100% beneficial if it’s within your means.
JA: What are some of the challenges you experience being a student who’s already in the spotlight?
HR: Finding the time to do everything is difficult. I’m a ‘yes’ person, I love to collaborate so the biggest challenge is knowing when to say no and understanding my limits.
JA: Can you tell me about a time that was scary for you?
HR: Moving to London from America for me was like coming out of a cocoon. When I got to London I was welcomed with such an accepting energy that pushed me to being more fluent and embrace who I was. One of the scariest moments for me was physically opening up and wearing these extravagant things that better represent me. Sporting these looks in public and worrying about what people will think. It was kinda just about that moment of physically coming out of a closet dressed in all these extravagant, decadent pieces.
JA: What would be the dream for your career ?
HR: I think it would be having a huge business that is completely gender fluid and which is giving back to the community. That’s successful in breaking down the fundamentals of the way fashion looks at gender and personally being a role model to people like myself.
Two evenings of sonic and experiential performances in London see Haroon Mirza and Daria Khan present emerging artists with a specific focus on performance, queer, female and non-binary practitioners.
The first evening is curated by Khan and Mimosa House and will centre around the work of three artists who use sculpture and performance to explore ideas around gender, sexuality, resistance and desire.
Moscow-based artist Taus Makhacheva, who works under the name Super Taus, who will create sculptures from steel during a live performance on the evening.
London-based artist Gaia Fugazza will invite audiences to hold sculptures in their mouths and Linda Stupart will create performances that investigate melting icebergs and Morgellons disease.
The first night will be curated by Daria Khan while Haroon Mirza curates the second evening of performances.
On this second evening the work will centre around how humans will imagine the archaeological site of the Large Hadron Collider after two millennia have passed. The collaborative work was inspired by a trip to CERN and sees Mirza work with artists, musicians, performers and producers.
The event is free to the public but booking in advance is highly recommended.
Blood Orange has shared the video for “Saint”, the latest release to be taken from his new album, Negro Swan. The video was directed by Devonté Hynes.
Co-written with Aaron Maine from Porches, Kindness’ Adam Bainbridge and singer Ava Raiin the song lays a stripped back and absorbing beat under Blood Orange’s signature direct, poetic lyrics.
The new video sees Hynes performing the song in a home studio set up, with a retro, cinematic feel. Onlookers slope on sofas and against door frames as Hynes plays the keyboard and sings into a handheld microphone.
“You wish I seen the saint you were before / Your skin’s a flag that shines for us all.”
British cinematographer/screenwriter Molly Manning Walker is a creative best known for using her work to speak up on prominent issues within society from a unique perspective.
In 2015, Walker collaborated with director Billy Boyd Cape to create a powerful short film titled ‘More Hate Than Fear’ which gave insight on the experience of an unjustly imprisoned graffiti artist as he navigated the first months of his 3 year prison sentence.
Previously, Molly also teamed up with producer Joya Berrow to create the mini-documentary ‘Not With Fire, With Paint’ which explores the impact of the murder of Diego Felipe Beccera — a graphic artist shot in the back by police officers while painting in the streets of Bogota, Colombia during 2011.
Painting by Camilla Rose
The cinematographer is now turning her lens to the subject of rape and is currently working to produce a short film entitled ‘Dark Is Her Shadow’ which is set to explore the emotional, physical and mental traumas and stigmas surrounding sexual assault. “We follow Amy, who is a 16 year-old girl who is trying to resume life after being raped, the day after the incident, she struggles with being provided with little to no guidance while the ghost of her rapist returns to haunt her,” says Walker.
Once a victim of sexual assault herself, she explains that the intention of the film is: “to prevent people from losing eye contact when the word rape is brought up and counteract people from asking victims what we were wearing when we say we were raped.”
In order to raise funds for the film — set to be shot in London this November — Molly has brought together a team of 30 female artists for 30 days of an instagram auction.
Over the span of these thirty days, the donated work of each of these artists will be auctioned off via Walker’s instagram to raise money for the film.
Big Titty Kitty by Netty Hurley
“The film is being funded through Kickstarter and the page will go live on August 29th. Each day we will have a different piece, an image of this piece will go out on instagram, facebook and twitter, the artist will self-evaluate this piece and that will be the starting price. When the image goes up, the followers will have until midnight to bid on each piece. At midnight, the winning bidder will donate to the Kickstarter page and the piece will be marked sold.”
The group of women include illustrator Alice Rosebery-Haynes , music photographer Natalie Wood, portrait photographer Charlotte Ellis, fashion designer Jazz Grant, along with several other poets, painters and talented creatives.
The second issue of Good Trouble issue 22, the zine produced by former Dazed & Confused editor Rod Stanley and designed by Richard Turley and Sophie Abady, is out this month.
Slightly confusing though the name of the magazine may be, the work included this issue is straightforwardly fantastic. The publication features original work by Wolfgang Tillmans, Sara Rahbar, Boychild, Scott King, Torbjørn Rødland, Helena Foster and others, curated by Francesca Gavin.
The broadsheet newspaper champions activism and resistance, bringing together a selection of creative and dynamic voices. This latest issue spans 32 pages and includes a pull out ‘Unmanifesto’ poster.
Pakistani designer and visual artist Misha Japanwala recently presented an uplifting collection entitled ‘azaadi’ — an Urdu word which means freedom — as her official debut as a New York based designer.
The Parsons School of Design graduate returned/revisited her hometown for inspiration where she sought to focus on a more positive narrative from the headlines she often read as a child about murders and brutal acts of violence against women.
“My collection was inspired by women like late Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch and other victims of honour killings who were murdered by family members that believed they had brought dishonour upon the family because of actions or decisions the victims may have made.
Japanwala used her platform as a designer to create a series of wearable sculptures of the female body moulded from her own body along with accessories from the hands of other Pakistani women.
“The female body was the perfect symbol to highlight the strength of the women who aren’t afraid to fight to live on their own terms, but also representative of the fragility that comes with being a woman in Pakistan.” Twin spoke with the designer about her process and inspirations behind this meaningful collection.
Azaadi by Misha Japanwala
How long did it take you to compose this entire collection and what were some of your challenges?
I worked on this collection for almost a year. I spent the first couple months deep in research about honour killings and reflecting upon experiences of Pakistani women from different backgrounds, including my own. The process of designing the looks in the collection was the most challenging aspect for me, because it took a long time to settle upon visual anchors that represent struggle, strength, and what it means to be a woman living in Pakistan. A few months in, I had a dream where all of the final looks in the collection were created using sculptures of the female body, and that’s when the process of experimenting with casting and different materials began. I had never sculpted or life-casted before, so the process of trying to figure it all out included a lot of trial and error and experimentation, which was a lot of fun for me as an artist.
Photography by Alec Lesser and Teagan West
How has the general feedback been since you’ve launched?
The reaction I’ve received from people, both during the process of creating my thesis as well as after completing it, has been really special. As an artist, the best I can hope for with any work I create is to make people feel something, and it’s been amazing to watch so many of them, especially Pakistani women, connect with the themes explored in this collection. However, I also knew that by highlighting taboo and controversial subjects, and by being an outspoken Pakistani women, I would face some amount of backlash. It has been important for me to expose myself to the negative opinions about my work, because I think it is always necessary to have an open dialogue, especially when it’s conversations surrounding honour killings, domestic violence and the societal pressures faced by women living in Pakistan.
Photography by Alec Lesser and Teagan West
How did it feel to show your muses the finished products?
After completing the collection, I went back to Pakistan for a couple weeks and had the opportunity to show my work to some of the women that had inspired it, and the ones who allowed me to make moulds of their hands to create the accessories in my collection. It was really special to see them excited about the collection and wearing the accessories themselves. It resulted in us having an impromptu photoshoot and it’s one of my favourite moments associated with the collection.
Image courtesy of Misha Japanwala
Where can one find these pieces to view/buy?
My collection can be viewed online – official photos of the lookbook are up on my website www.mishajapanwala.com, and I continue to share photos and images of my process on my instagram @misha_japanwala. Anyone interested in buying my work can contact me directly through those channels.
Photography by Alec Lesser and Teagan West
What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on launching an online store in the next few weeks to sell accessories inspired by the themes I targeted in the collection. I want to use my platform and my art to help Pakistani women, and so a portion of all proceeds from the sales on my website will be donated to a women’s shelter in Karachi, Pakistan. Moving forward, my work will continue to explore the subjects I used with my first collection, because I still feel like there is so much to say. In Pakistan, now more than ever, it is so important to continue pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo, and I hope that my work can, in a small way, help change mindsets and open people to different perspectives.
For their Autumn/Winter 2018 collection Whistles presents a collection which they describe as a more forthright approach to dressing. A blend of both maximalist attributes and modern sophisticated details, the AW18 campaign embraces a silhouette which is fluid and feminine and also holds inherent strength. Louche shirt dresses, wrap around silk bodices, over the knee boots and autumnal floral prints are some of the qualities which add character to this modern-day silhouette. See the full collection here.
Sportswear brand Nike recently unveiled their latest womenswear collection titled Nike City Ready which is set to hit stores on September 6th. The collection comprises of nine pieces designed by an all-female team which included Nike Women’s Senior Creative Director Maria Vu.
“Our Challenge was how to take our incredible motion adapt technology and make it beautiful and push it through a transformative lens without compromising the performance,” explains Vu. The campaign features American athlete Sloane Stephens and ballerina/photographer Olivia Burgess who model the pieces which include footwear, bras, pants, tights and crews which are shot by female photographer/athlete Paola Kudacki.
Nike City Ready CollectionNike City Ready CollectionNike City Ready Collection
“Robeauty” — an ode to the beauty of robotics — was the inspiration behind Milanese brand Miaoran’s SS19 collection.
The label, run by Chinese designer Miao Ran, launched three years ago after intense collaboration with Missoni. Specialising in both menswear and womenswear, Ran often delivers collections inspired by ethereal subjects and incorporates them through structure, print and delivery.
For his latest collection, the designer uses soft silhouettes, prints, colour, broken lines and macramé embroideries to construct looks in alignment to this automaton aesthetic. He also teams up with photographer Marcello Junior Dino, to create a lookbook influenced by muses of the future. Twin met with the designer to learn more about his process.
What materials are your favourite to work with and why
At the beginning it was so much about natural fibres but for the SS19 collection I choose many synthetic fabrics. I can’t really say I have a favourite. Each season it’s a different intention and a different mood to portray.
I always pay attention to materials. A fabric can deeply change the look of a shape and make it something you would never expect. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but it’s important to experiment. It is always worth it.
What has been your biggest challenge so far since the launch of the label?
The biggest challenge for me, as for many designers nowdays, is to stay original. It’s important to combine many different aspects when your passion becomes your job. You have to make something beautiful, something that could be different among the all other products, something that has a twist but will also work in the stores. It’s difficult but it’s also very exciting for me.
How would you describe the ideal Miaoran woman/man?
Someone who is confident and who can wisely choose a piece of clothing and give it life. I love people with great personalities.
What inspires you the most?
I am very open to the world, and what happens on a daily basis. You can take a picture, read a book, watch a movie… but it’s not just that. It’s your background and your own world that makes you see everything in a different way.
Why were robots your inspiration for this collection?
Robots are the future. Aren’t they? And so are children, which was why we decided to pair them both for the look book.
In 2008, Fendi’s creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi launched what was to be known as the iconic Peekaboo bag. Inspired by childhood tales from the game itself, the designer crafted a handbag somewhat resemblant of a face which is covered and then uncovered like in a game of Peekaboo. The two main sections of the crocodile leather-stitched bag opens and shuts in a way resemblant of the eyes.
As the brand celebrates it’s 10th anniversary since it’s launch, they unveil a new project entitled #MeAndMyPeekaboo featuring iconic women around the world. Mothers, daughters and sisters are the protagonists of these intimate short films which were released on the brands social networks in July. The short film series feature the designer along with her two daughter Delfina Delettrez Fendi and Leonetta Luciano Fendi, Kim Kardashian with her mother Kris Jenner and daughter North West, actress sisters Jessica and Krystal Jung along with other influential women. In these films the brand aims to highlight the beauty of the bond made between related women. Discover more at Fendi.
New York based photographer Chad Moore today launches an exhibition entitled ‘A New Name For Everything’ at the Asama International Photo Festival in Miyota, Japan.
The American photographer is one who is known to accurately capture the beauties of human expression and emotion in ways which often uproots empathy in his audience. He mostly focuses on the themes of family , friendship, love and youth.
“In retrospect, the most beautiful periods of my life seem to have all been momentary events. In the snaps where the power of a photograph which confines the moment is demonstrated.”
Moore will reveal 24 unseen photos from his archive in this exhibition which will run until September 30th.
In a new series of images, photographer Emily Stein creates portraits of Akemi and her kimonos. A celebration of traditional clothing and heritage set in a modern British environments.
Emily Stein explains the story behind her bright and celebratory new series.
Akemi has lived in the UK for twenty years, however her heart is truly rooted in her home country of Japan and this manifests itself in her extensive Kimono collection. As I got to know her she explained to me how she came to London in search of a safer place for her and her young daughter. She explained how in Japan women are sexually harassed frequently and how she grew up being taught to obey men. She felt she had no voice or way of expressing herself.
Each Kimono has a story to tell about her past which she is emotionally connected to.
Her kimono collection is a way for Akemi to be close to certain parts of what she loves about her heritage. Her collection of 100 beautiful pieces feels like an extension of her.
She always dresses in Kimono’s. I felt like it would be a lovely story to tell.
While sports and athleisure wear dominate the market, Cecilie Bahnsen’s work is unabashedly feminine and dream like. Her aesthetic feels rooted in optimism and possibility rather than perfunctory practicality.
Bahnsen’s romantic, sculptural forms have garnered a wide and loyal following and made her a name to know in the international fashion scene.
The new PS19 images, shot by Josefine Seifert, feel straight out of Peter Weir’s original 1970s’s Picnic At Hanging Rock. Photographs capture youth and a sense of freedom while also hinting at a the lurking, more sinister reality that’s never too far away.
Ahead of Copenhagen Fashion Week Twin talks to Cecilie about the evolution of her signature designs and finding inspiration in Eton collage for her PS19 collection.
Cecilie Bahnsen PS19 | images by Josefine Seifert
What about volume interests you?
I love how you can play with a great volume and yet make it feel light. We love to use the dresses as a canvas to show off the beautiful textiles and materials we develop, so for the volume, the bigger the better. I am not that good at ‘less is more’.
Were you always drawn to romanticism in clothes? Why?
I have always been drawn to femininity and a romantic way of dressing. I am a big sucker for romance, I fast-forward movies to the romantic scenes. I do though, like the contrasts that can be drawn to romanticism as well, and I always try to bring in some modernity and Scandinavian minimalism to not get carried away.
Are you inspired by sculpture? If so, what are your favorite pieces?
I’ve always taken a sculptural approach when designing clothes and so I was thrilled when we, for the AW18 show and campaign could present the collection in a setting surrounded by sculptures made by the legendary Dan Graham. In some respects, our work is similar — we each create unique pieces that come alive through their interaction with people.
The sculptural influences are woven throughout FW18’s considered series of covetable dresses in a pared-back palette of black, white, pink and green. Billowing sleeves, full skirts and floaty hemlines are all meticulously constructed, a play of precision and lightness like you see it in Dan Grahams glass installations.
Cecilie Bahnsen PS19 | images by Josefine Seifert
How do you feel that your silhouettes and aesthetic has evolved since you started?
The collections are always a study in fabric, texture, line and volume. Each season we refine and evolve the silhouettes, details and fabric to fit perfect with the seasons mood.
I think that with confidence and knowledge the level of each collection grow and the identity and the DNA of the brand get more defined. This process is so inspiring and fascinating.
Often you can’t see the development or the progression when you are in the middle of the design process and you have a lot of self-doubt, but when you see the finished collection, looks and how everything has fallen into place, you sometimes get this Wow feeling of how beautiful it all has become.
Cecilie Bahnsen PS19 | images by Josefine Seifert
Did you find it easy / natural to develop your design signature?
I think, what has now become my design signature, is something that naturally and slowly evolved from my first collections and throughout the last seasons. I like to re-use shapes and develop new ones by using my favorite features from previous design to give birth to new ones and in that way continue the collections, and pass on the DNA from dress to dress.
What have been the biggest challenges that you’ve encountered as you’ve launched and grown the label?
The speed that fashion moves in, makes it very hard to both have the time to be creative and to run a business. You need to be able to handle a lot of different jobs at the same time.
The fashion industry is moving very fast, and I don’t think it would harm anyone to slow down and consider how much we produce and be more aware of our production process.
For me it has been really important to hold on to the design DNA and create beautiful timeless pieces that last longer than a season and hopefully will be cherished by the wear for a life time.
Cecilie Bahnsen PS19 | images by Josefine Seifert
What are your favourite materials to work with, and why?
Merging tradition with innovation, we work with manufacturers in Como, Italy, to design new textiles for each collection that offer a unique combination of style, sustainability and quality.
Quilting reimagining one of the oldest couture techniques for the contemporary woman, our double-faced silk quilting is produced by our partners in Lithuania using textiles sourced in the UK.
Our embroidery is created by hand for each garment, with a bespoke process based on traditional couture techniques that offers a unique, contemporary aesthetic.
Each garment is handmade with traditional techniques, intricate detailing and uniquely designed fabrics to present a timeless expression of modern femininity.
Cecilie Bahnsen PS19 | images by Josefine Seifert
What were you interested in exploring for PS19?
The Pre-Spring 2019 collection is inspired by collective identity and the expressiveness and beauty of a group. The inspiration is a combination of the femininity and innocent aesthetic of Japanese artist Osamu Yokonami’s photo series assembly, showing the beauty and strength of the collective entity, with the masculine contrast of the school uniforms worn by boys at Eton College.
The collection represents spring in its ability to show moments of sunlight through the subtle colours palette of yellow, lavender, black and white, combined with soft and sculptural silhouettes in light materials such as cotton poplin, silk, lace and transparent layering.
Cecilie Bahnsen PS19 | images by Josefine Seifert
How would describe modern femininity vs traditional femininity – is there a difference?
I like to draw inspiration from the romanticisms in traditional femininity, but I feel like modern femininity is much more about individuality, showing your personality and expressing yourself. I feel like it’s way more easy to feel feminine while dressing masculine. It’s way more complex and open for interpretation.
Cecilie Bahnsen PS19 | images by Josefine Seifert
What are you excited about for Copenhagen FW this season?
There is always something special about Copenhagen fashion week in the summer, the entire city is buzzing with expectations and full of life. There is a very relaxed feel to it, people drink wine and arrive at the shows in puffy dresses on city bikes. I love that.
Fondazione Prada’s most recent display features the work of German multi-media artist John Bock whose work explores the themes of dark comedy, violence, music, fashion and fragments of everyday life all fused into one space. The exhibition,which takes place from July 18th to September 24th on the ground floor of the Milanese venue is aptly-labeled “The Next Quasi-Complex.”
Lütte mit Rucola (2006)
Bock, an artist known for his performances which he calls lectures, curated this project in which he transformed the ground floor of Fondazione Prada’spodium into a surreal space of his imagination using furniture, debris and everyday objects combined to create what he describes as an illogical universe. In this particular exhibition the artist also includes two installations from the Collezione Prada: the mobile stage of When I’m looking into the Goat Cheese Baiser (2001) and the living room of Lütte mit Rucola (2006). During his lectures, John invites his audience into to be involved in this process of fabricating a new reality. His next live lecture is set for September 8th at the foundation in which he will collaborate with actors Lars Eidinger and Sonja Viegner to help animate the mobile stage of When I’m looking into the Goat Cheese Baiser.
When I’m looking into the Goat Cheese Baiser (2001)
Jack Davidson gets behind the lens for the Margaret Howell AW18 campaign. Shot in Farnham in Surrey images bring the best of Howell’s refined nostalgia and eternal relevance. Black and white portraits fuel the romantic lilt and emphasise the warm, elegant tailoring at the heart of the season’s collection.
Four years ago, Nigerian author/activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie published a book length essay titled “We Should All Be Feminists.” In summary, the book is an outstanding revelation which aims to give a definition to modern day feminism and it’s relevance to society.
In 2013,Adichie delivered a TEDx Talk on the subject which was sampled by Beyonce in her 2013 hit single ***Flawless. This boost of popularity as an author/activist introduced to pop culture was just in time for the book’s launch.
In 2017, three years after the launch, for her debut as the first woman to take charge as creative director of french fashion house Christian Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri presented her SS17 collection which included a t-shirt aptly-bearing the title of Chimamanda’s essay , “We Should All Be Feminists.”Since then, the t-shirts have gained popularity and have been sported by celebrities and influencers such as Rihanna , Jennifer Lawrence, ASAP Rocky, Chiara Ferragni, etc. To say this trend was a success is a gross understatement.
And as we have witnessed time after time, messages being told through fashion tend to often have quite an effect: dating from as far as back as the 80’s when fashion designer Katharine Hamnett wore a T-shirt in protest against nuclear missiles in her meeting of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. More recently Black Lives Matter protesters marched through American streets bearing variations of the slogan across their chests after the Trayvon Martin injustice, and who can forget the jacket which read “I Really Don’t Care Do You?” worn by Melania Trump on her way to visit a migrant facility in Texas.
While these garments might carry notes that can contributive to a mass shift in society, as anything that involves the internet, there are pitfalls of going ‘too’ viral.
Two seasons ago a version of the We Should All Be Feminists t-shirt was seen on the Milanese runway for the budding menswear Sunnei – an innocent play on words, altered to “We should all be Sunnei”. One might argue that such an artless move could do no harm.
Sunnei FW18 | credit: Giacomo Cabrini
However, this is where the watering down of an important message begins. Now personalised versions of the book title can be spotted on influencers, fans etc. and although the intent might be innocent, the message is undoubtedly weakened.
It’s like playing Chinese whispers. In the end, you risk losing parts through transition, but in this case, its much more important than a game. When Black Lives Matter protesters created T-shirts with the slogan it was to emphasise the fact that black lives matter, not to leave room for “All Lives Matter” spin-offs which disregarded and disrupted the original message, or when Melania Trump wore the jacket that read “I Really Don’t Care, Do You?” some might say the First Lady was genuinely sending a message henceforth the internet’s effort to change the writing to something positive was besides the point.
So I believe it’s safe to assume that when Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie penned this essay, it was for the purpose of speaking out against the heinous acts of sexism, and likewise Maria Grazia Chiuri when she incorporated the unaltered title as apart of her collection. So might we be reminded that protest t-shirts and whatever other forms of fashion used to send messages, are not for the purposes of individualisation or modification, regardless of innocent intentions, but for the sole motive of emphasising an important message using an art form which can be easily outspread.
An immersive sci-fi fashion presentation at the wild, impossible edges of contemporary art music; an exploration of how objects are used to create our own truth; Waiting for Godot meets Lulu via fashion week for the post-truth era.
UU studios have created an opera entitled WEAR with keen hopes to traverse time, space and the audience’s impression of what the theatre can be.
The storyline? A designer prepares for their final show against the backdrop of the apocalypse. When a colleague arrives to interview them about the work on display, it sets in motion a series of recollections of their lives and the work that gave these meaning. In a series of creative re-imaginings the two reconnect and, in doing so, defy the end of the world.
The tale is merely a metaphor for a greater discussion being posed by the UU Studios founders: Gemma A. Williams and Alastair White. With a background of fashion curation and publications, alongside White’s work straddling politics, science and music, both White and Williams are here to utilise the stage as a sounding board for the collision of a lot of thoughts that are pounding through their heads. Opera is a field that is still shackled to its traditions, so it will be refreshing to see what WEAR unfolds in storyline, execution and intent.
The gumption of WEAR is ambitious – and anything that carries a cross-pollinating appetite should be celebrated for its need of a (creatively concerned) different speed. Twin contributor Isabella Davey talks to Williams and White about WEAR’s forthcoming debut and how an opera woven like fabric can stand for as a metaphor for identity, confusion and decay.
How did wear come about?
AW:We met through a mutual friend and were instantly fascinated with one another’s work. At the time I was in the process of sketching ideas for an opera about time travel that could exploit art music’s ability to manipulate the listener’s experience of temporality. In one of many late night discussions with Gemma it struck us both how interesting it might be to set it in the world of fashion. Fashion – it seems to me, at least – is, like music, specifically concerned with time. On one hand, it is fleeting and ephemeral, a constant flow of changing trends with their momentary beauty made even more vivid by its impending obsolescence. On the other, clothes – great clothes, that is – have this magical power to almost freeze their wearers in time and protect them from the rot and decay of disintegrating life as though together they had become an artwork. I think, tentatively, it is in the contradiction and interplay between these opposing aspects that fashion derives a meaningful beauty. The desire to explore some of these ideas, and their philosophical implications in music, poetry and dance, was where WEAR began.
WEAR opera | image credit: Robert Rowland
What attracted you to opera?
GAW: I think opera has similar challenges to fashion in that people are often scared by it and therefore actually miss out on the beauty of it. On a very practical level, I think that increasingly exhibitions are becoming massive blockbusters; the curator has been overtaken by fashion brands using in-house teams to convey their own very controlled commercial message and this means that rather than allowing an external thinker into the process to extract a narrative they are becoming very set promotional events. There is very little room to experiment especially with budgets so when I met Alastair I thought this was a really exciting aspect to explore and develop. It’s also never actually been done before!
How do fashion and performance interact and relate to one another?
GAW: Well they are intrinsic. From our first understanding of performance it’s embedded in the visual – Bowie is a prime example and the very best, ground-breaking artists play with this. Also, for me it’s about emotion – something incredibly difficult to convey in an exhibition but immediately unlocked in music, performance or fashion.
Why I’m particularly excited about WEAR is that we haven’t simply dressed the models: fashion inspired the construction of the music so it’s an opera that’s been woven, like a fabric.
What do you hope the audience will take from wear?
AW: WEAR isn’t so much a story about time machines as it is about a world where they make true stories no longer possible. Multiple timelines are a contradiction in terms – they couldn’t exist side by side as the current Star Trek reboot and continuation have tried to imply. Rather, they would be experienced as a constant erasure and reworking of history. I hope it works as a metaphor for the modern world, where the past seems so distant from our amnesiac, ever-modernising present, and the fact that we can now use the contemporary excess of information to justify almost anything. I suppose I hope that people take that the only way forward from such a moment is not through the dull, methodical reconstruction of the past, but the possibility of something totally new, something utterly unexpected – that no one had thought possible before – that didn’t need to happen – that was, until now, in this shifting, tumbling present, impossible to imagine. It’s only in this that we can re-light radical politics and art towards their revolutionary efficacy.
What was the thought behind the name?
AW: A pun that fortunately combines a few of the opera’s themes – identity, confusion and decay.
GAW: Also, our company name is a pun, pronounced double u. We like puns.
WHAT CAN OPERA LEARN FROM FASHION AND FASHION LEARN FROM OPERA
GAW: Fashion is adept at remaining relevant in how it pushes the boundaries of a vast array of different contexts. The most provocative designers build a mix of philosophy, performance and fine art into their garments and collections but in such a way that they are still commercial pieces that can be worn on the body.
AW; Opera, by contrast, is hamstrung by an industry built on museum-piece regurgitation of the past at the expense of new work. It survives by breaking out of the opera house and fighting its way back to the cut and thrust of the real world, full of all its confusing exhilaration and cheap, strange ugliness. The challenge is not to ignore these factors, but rather to reconcile them somehow with the beauty of art and, in this, the possibility of a better future.
What is next for UU Studios?
GAW: For now we want to concentrate on touring WEAR globally, potentially programming it into fashion weeks and events. Our aim is to collaborate with a different designer in each different city, making it incredibly special each time and visually different. Alongside this we have a lot of really cool ideas so it’s pretty exciting. We are writing a crime-horror opera based in a coastal town which has hilariously ended up with the working-title of ‘The Fish Opera’.
Sinead O’Dwyer’s RCA MA collection blended fashion and performance to offer a radical statement about diversity on a meaningful level in fashion. Using silicone (so often used to twist women’s bodies into a standard prescribed by patriarchal norms) and fibreglass, the young designer offered a bold new option for the industry: clothes that put the wearer’s body first rather than pushing the wearer to fit into punishing, shaming silhouettes.
Twin talks to Sinéad about breaking through the barriers in the new era.
Have you always been interested in the body as the starting point for clothes?
Not always, but I started studying fashion because I always seemed to want to relate my experiences and self expression back to my body and felt that fashion was an art in which the body and it’s exploration was central.
Sinead O’Dwyer RCA MA Show | credit: Dan Sims
Do you approach clothes with an idea of the shape that you want to create or is it always an organic process?
Observations of the body are my first port of call, and then it’s an organic process that is informed by these observations.
What about silicone and fibreglass were you drawn to when making work for your MA show?
Learning about mouldmaking and silicone has allowed me to translate the form and fragility of the body fluidly into my garments. I’m also drawn to the endless experiments you can make using such an industrial material as fiberglass for a mould.
How has your experience of growing up in Ireland informed your work?
I grew up in the countryside in a small town and had very little understanding for how the beauty and fashion industry operated, but still longed to be a part of it. However now after living in big cities I can see how these industries glorify themselves and the people they choose to represent and that knowledge combined with my experiences of how this can affect people’s perceptions of themselves is definitely something which fuels my work.
Sinead O’Dwyer RCA MA Show | credit: Dan Sims
What do you feel are the biggest challenges to changing how the body is perceived in fashion?
Old school fashion teaching and thinking: young designers want change but so many fashion schools still indirectly teach that a model has to be one shape and size by way of their choices of fit models and the block patterns they provide. In some cases, these arbitrary size restrictions are even enforced at show time. For example, the ITS competition rules state that garments must be size 8-10; upon enquiring if I could use a variety of sizes I was fed the usual excuse that models must be suitable for all to use.
This attitude, that it is not a priority to consider the bodies we are using to represent, and that everyone but ‘me’ wishes to use a size 8, is embedded in fashion culture. But it’s more often the case that a lot of designers have size 8 garments due to the resources pumped into paying for size 8 fit models, size 8 block patterns and also the stipulation in the ITS rules that garments MUST be size 8.
Where do you want to take your designs now?
I’ll continue pushing the process I’ve developed during these last two years.
Featured image credit: Sinead O’Dwyer RCA MA Show | credit: Dan Sims
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