London Fashion Week - Our picks
Patternity: A New Way Of Seeing
“When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge”
London Fashion Week: Show Highlight Day 1-3
BFC Show Space SS16 (Agnese Sanvito, British Fashion Counil)
Image gallery
Ten Designers in the West Wing
Alphabeta, Luca Nichetto for Hem
London Design Festival presents ‘Ten Designers in the West Wing’, the work of an impressive list of renown designers, exhibiting in collaboration with their best clients.
5 emerging designers we love…
Stumbling on new design talent in the fashion industry is always exciting, especially when those designers can change the perception you have on fashion. Curious about what you might be wearing in a couple of years? Keep a close eye on these talents and you’re ought to find out!
Moses Gauntlett Cheng
Designer complex Moses Gauntlett Cheng, consisting of David Moses, Esther Gauntlett and Jenny Cheng, is challenging the status quo. Known for pushing the boundaries from material choices to gender roles imposed by society, MGC has caused quite some controversy in the sometimes static world of fashion. Brilliantly shocking and oh so fun, their 2015 A/W collection was a non-stop party, starting off by models flaunting an adult baby look down the runway before jumping out of an RV. They explain their cutting-edge collection as a reaction to the piling stress and exhaustion in a rushed life. “We wanted to capture the vibe of going home and embracing comfort a little bit too much; reverting to this ‘adult baby’ stage and being looked after in a way that you’re kind of in love with and also embarrassed by”. Offering not only comfort but also a voice to a new indefinable generation; we expect them to occupy a permanent spot on the fashion radar.
Images via lucillagray.com
Lucilla Gray
In barely two seasons Lucilla Gray has already earned her place at both London Fashion Week and New Zealand Fashion Week, where she just presented her latest collection. Voicing an intelligent, strong woman, she merges conceptual fashion with ready-to-wear ideals as if they were made to synchronize. Although equally mesmerized by the otherworldly digital prints and versatility in her designs, we are mostly impressed by the level of sophistication she implements in every collection piece.
Ashley Kang
All eyes drawn to her remarkably detailed layering at Central Saint Martins graduation show, it is not a surprise knitwear graduate Ashley Kang learned her embroidery skills by working at no other than Alexander McQueen. Top that with a serious dose of glitter, metallics and heavy knits and you have Sporty Granny. Inspired by her own grandmother, her love for flowers and adventure, she created an overwhelming feast for the eye out of materials that couldn’t be more different but somehow fit the picture perfectly. Modernised granny glasses with beaded strings balanced out the outer space sneakers and futuristic silhouettes. Although we have only her graduation show to judge from, it is safe to say we will be seeing more from this young mastermind.
Image via leparadox.com
Quoï Alexander
Another Central Saint Martins wonder, Quoï Alexander, is taking over the fashion industry with his ‘anything but ordinary’ knits. Characterized by strong silhouettes and killer weaving techniques, his latest collection exists of laced armours, intertwining ideas and references together. The inspiration behind his complex collection came from Xu Bing, the writer who tricked Chinese readers in thinking he mastered the language, while in reality his words meant nothing. Obscurity through abstraction, a concept Quoï executed by bold opulence. A choice he had to make, as he could have gone for a minimalist approach. Instead he went for the maximalist route, a choice that definitely launched his career and made us admirers of his work.
Isabel Helf
As maximalism was the former designer’s main strength, Austrian accessory designer Isabel Helf is all about practical minimalism. Her multifunctional handbags have led her to wining the top price at this year’s ITS Accessories Award and a steady future in the fashion industry. Not only are we amazed by the options that come with these handbags, performing as accessory, furniture and storage, the impeccable quality these handbags radiate is truly remarkable. Aiming to give our eyes and minds a break from cluttered reality, she was inspired by compulsive orderliness, a disorder she recognizes herself in. Her inner urge to create a balance between objects within her surrounding area translates itself in the functional value of her bags, solving the on-going issue of space saving. Having brought a truly unique product on the market, we are curious how she is going to translate the combining function and aesthetics in other concepts.
Depictions of the Empty Bed in Contemporary Art
We are delighted that Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed’ (1998) sculpture is back on show at the Tate Modern in London, and here's why.
Artists and Scientists at Music Tech Fest
Soft Revolvers by Myriam Bleau
The exciting formula for championing future creative and technological collaboration in music. We interview Andrew Dubber, Music Tech Fest's Director.
Ai Weiwei at the Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts has just opened its doors to Ai Weiwei's major exhibition in the UK - check out the preview photos by Nick JS Thompson
Music Premiere : Makeshift Happiness, a new EP by Christa Vi
Photo by Jon Enoch. Origami by Papershake
Inspired by origami and paper craft, Christa Vi’s new EP, Makeshift Happiness, creates something beautiful and bright out of the ordinary, futile optimism, and fragility of the existentialist everyday.
Liggers & Dreamers : a new book by Josie Demuth
Artists are doing it for themselves – or are they?... Tales from the London Art Scene
Cindy Rizza – The Beauty of Nostalgia on Canvas
Has a painting ever been so realistically close to your memories, it reminded you of your own past?
In My Shoes: Switchst(d)ance
Photo by Tiago Reis
An interview with Marco Antão resident DJ’s at Lux Frágil, Lisbon.
Real Fear for Safe Experience
On the 30th anniversary of the death of Ana Mendieta, I decided to take a retroactive look at one of her most shocking and poignant works – People Looking At Blood (1973). A review by Benjamin Murphy.
A preview of Judy Chicago's Star Cunts & Other Attractions
Image credit - Judy Chicago at work in her china-painting studio in 1974. Courtesy of Through the Flower Archives
The Riflemaker Gallery will play host to Judy Chicago once again with work both acquainted and un-introduced. Meet her Star Cunts & other attractions; a feminist-fired suite of her historic sculptures, paintings and archival pieces.
Like Father Like Son.
In conversation with Seun Anikulapo Kuti, son of the renowned and fearsome Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti .
Overture: Idris Khan’s figurative translation of language
Idris Khan presents his upcoming solo exhibition Overture, revealing further interrogation of language through his practice.
‘Internet Recycling’: From Screen to Reality
Translating data into design, artists Rachel de Joode, Katja Novitskova, Julia Crabtree, and William Evans offer a new perspective on icons and images familiar to the majority in the developed and developing world alike.
A Gentle Misinterpretation, curated by Andrew Nicholls
INTERVIEW: Andrew Nicholls delves deep into the ‘Chinoiserie’ culture in his curating of ‘A Gentle Misinterpretation’ which discusses the impact and influence of appropriated Asian cultures in art.
The von Bartha gallery hosts Bernhard Luginbühl and friends
The works of one of Switzerland’s best known sculptors, and a few of his fellow contemporaries are erected in all their glory at the von Bartha gallery.
Tetsumi Kudo at Hauser & Wirth London
A seminal figure in Tokyo’s Anti-Art movement in the late 1950’s, multidisciplinary artist Tetsumi Kudo (1935 – 1990) left behind a lasting legacy: this autumn, Hauser & Wirth London will host an exhibition of his works, marking 25 years since his passing.