Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Presentation Review: Kingston MA

Kingston-MA-by-Alia-Gargum
Stephanie Nieuwenhuyse by Alia Gargum

Located in Kingston upon Thames, buy South West London, more about Kingston University London doesn’t seem to have a buzzing reputation for academia. But with art the institution are widely regarded as one of the best in the country, particularly for fashion education. Kingston fashion graduates have gone on to senior posts in a range of leading labels which include Armani, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Vivienne Westwood and Yves Saint Laurent. And it goes without saying that the Fashion Scout presentation at London Fashion Week is a thoroughly unique opportunity to showcase work to the industry’s elite at such an early stage in a designer’s career.

Kingston Fashion Textiles MA SS 2011 review-002

Kingston Fashion Textiles MA SS 2011 review-004

The university has been presenting the best of it’s MA Fashion graduates at Vauxhall Fashion Scout for two years now, and the theme has remained the same – The Body Laboratory. This time, there was an array of interpretations of the theme from full-on brain-like, mouldy textiles (yes, really) to delicate references through elegant style details. My favourites of the presentation were Stefanie Nieuwenhuyse, Fay Gascoigne, Ninela Ivanova and Han Gu.

Stefanie Nieuwenhuyse Kingston MA LFW S/S 2012 by Kirstie Battson
Stefanie Nieuwenhuyse by Kirstie Battson

I saw perhaps the most bustle around Stefanie Nieuwenhuyse, who had a corset and shoe displayed as part of a collection inspired by Biomimicry. The pieces were created from an intricate shell of thin wood that was broken into tiny hexagonal shapes then arranged in the most impressive and fiddly way; it must have taken yonks to put together. Her business cards were also made out of the thin wood she had used in her collection pieces – a great touch!

Fay Gascoigne
Photography courtesy of Fay Gascoigne.

I asked Fay Gascoigne about her pieces and she spoke with such passion and expression that I couldn’t help but admire her work! She displayed a funky, sporty jacket, formed with purple digital printed fabric, gathered in sections to make a volumnous shape. She also had everyone in the room sniffing her giant white plastic necklace that smelt like lavender.

Kingston Fashion Textiles MA SS 2011 review-014

Kingston Fashion Textiles MA SS 2011 review-012

Ninela Ivanova created a somewhat controversial collection that was displayed in the center of the room in all its glory. The collection, titled Moulded Mind was largely made up of lazer-cut velvet encased in silicone (which created a wonderful veiny/brainy effect). These pieces were named Second Skin. What was even more bizarre was the thick mould that were contained in transparent vests and shoulder pads. This was much more of a textile venture than a fashion one but I was intrigued by the concept, as was everyone else in the room as they touched and stared at the pieces and badgered Ninela with questions.

Han Gu Kingston MA S/S 2012 by Aysim Genc
Han Gu by Aysim Genc

Han Gu‘s work stood out beautifully. It was just a shame that there wasn’t more of her collection on display for the presentation. She’d created pieces that were much more wearable but that still showed fantastic textile skill in minute triangular features that seemed to hark back to Japanese origami. It turns out that the collection, titled Triangular Memories, was inspired by memories of her grandma who liked to fold the smallest notes to make little triangles. My favourite feature was the collar, made from tiny transparent plastic triangles; a simple but beautifully constructed piece.

Kingston Fashion Textiles MA SS 2011 review-007q=
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

The Kingston MA Fashion presentation at Vauxhall Fashion Scout continues to show off the university’s ability to stretch their students’ capabilities, give them the creative freedom to push new boundaries and inject something new into the fashion world.

Categories ,Alia Gargum, ,Amelia Gregory, ,Armani, ,Aysim Genc, ,Biomimicry, ,Body Laboratory, ,Burberry, ,Calvin Klein, ,Fay Gascoigne, ,Freemasons’ Hall, ,Georgia Takacs, ,Han Gu, ,Kingston, ,Kingston MA Fashion, ,Kingston University, ,Kingston University London, ,Kingston upon Thames, ,lfw, ,LFW S/S 2012, ,London Fashion Week, ,London Fashion Week S/S 2012, ,Mould, ,Moulded Mind, ,Ninela Ivanova, ,origami, ,Second Skin, ,Silicone, ,Stefanie Nieuwenhuyse, ,The Body Laboratory, ,Triangular Memories, ,Vauxhall Fashion Scout, ,Velvet, ,Vivienne Westwood, ,YSL, ,Yves Saint Laurent

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Amelia’s Magazine | Fred Butler: London Fashion Week A/W 2012 Presentation Review

Fred Butler AW 2012 by Mitika Chohan

Fred Butler AW 2012 by Mitika Chohan

I love Fred Butler. She has been one of my favourite accessories and props designers for a few years now and apart from what she makes I also adore the fascinating and playful way in which she dresses as well as the way she expresses herself in interviews, which reveals a really quite special person indeed. I had seen her props pop up here and there in magazines, like in Amelia’s Magazine Issue 7 for which she made a Noah’s Ark shaped paper hat – in fact Amelia Gregory was one of the first to commission props from Fred. But I think a story I saw in i-D’s The Agyness Deyn Issue from May 2008, titled ‘Attitude’, featuring an inflatable rockets bra by Fred among other striking props, was what made me an official fan.

Fred Butler AW 2012 Charli XCX photo by Maria Papadimitriou

While queueing to see Fred’s live presentation of her A/W 2012 collection at The Portico Rooms in Somerset House on the 20th of February I was extra happy because – apart from the obvious reason – my young friend and budding stylist Isabella Sumner of Secret Danger Sister was texting me from backstage. Isabella became Kim Howells’ assistant for this London Fashion Week season after I forwarded to her a post by Kim I saw on Facebook asking for help! Kim has styled numerous Fred Butler presentations, films and lookbooks. Fred’s presentation took the form of a mini catwalk show which repeated itself over and over to a different audience each time. And there was quite a crowd to get through. During the four times in and out from the Portico Rooms – I saw the show twice – there were queues extending all the way to and down the stairs leading to the ground level of Somerset House. In those queues I spotted an array of some of the coolest, cutting edge creatives around, like Piers Atkinson, Bishi, Alùn Davies and Diane Pernet and filmmaker Konstantinos Menelaou from ASVOF, to name a few, all of whom of course love Fred’s original work.

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou 9

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Refreshingly the show opened with pop singer Charli XCX singing her catchy song ‘I’ll Never Know’ live with a band. Fred Butler, who’s twitter feed is full of #thismorningimlisteningto and other music related tweets, has a special relationship with music. She often DJs, she has made props for musicians such as Patrick Wolf, Nicki Minaj, Beth Ditto, La Roux AND Lady Gaga and, according to her, looking at the way musicians were dressed on album covers when she was little has been very inspiring. So it seems entirely natural that this season Fred, enabled by Red Bull Catwalk Studio, collaborated with Charlie XCX on a bespoke soundtrack for the collection. In general I think that the way Fred uses different art forms to enhance and show her work works incredibly well – for example she has made beautiful fashion films of her previous collections with talented young directors such as Zaiba Jabbar and Elisha Smith-Leverock.

Fred Butler AW 2012 by Nicola Ellen

Fred Butler AW 2012 by Nicola Ellen

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler 2012 by Catherine Meadows

Fred Butler 2012 by Catherine Meadows

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Another notable and interesting thing about Fred Butler’s collections is the way she titles them using combined, long and sometimes made up words and phrases that seem to describe an other worldly thing or process in exactly the same intricate and imaginative way her pieces are made. The title of this collection was Tank Top-Ranking, Tong-Tied and Twisted. Her S/S 2012 collection was called Sonic Sinuate Supertemporal Sequestador and a 2011 collection went under the name of Incandescent Meta-morph-incessant.

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler AW 2012 LFW  by Deborah Moon

Fred Butler AW 2012 LFW by Deborah Moon

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Following her S/S 2012 collection which featured more round shapes, frills and quite a bit of fabric, I was personally happy that in this collection Fred returned to origami folding techniques and body props with more clear cut, geometric shapes. This time I thought that the four colour goddesses that stepped out looked impeccable from head to toe. Each model had a monochrome base formed by beautiful knitted undergarments – a collaboration with EDE who specialise in English produced hand knits – and a matching colour wig. Placed on top of that base were a quilted, high collar gilet, origami obi belts, a marshmallow hued harness with twisted tubes, more belts and headbands out of twisted strings and more origami inspired, sculptural body pieces. The outfits were completed by colour matching shoes designed in collaboration with Rosy Nicholas. According to the press release there was a sushi related theme under all of this, especially in relation to the colour palette used. Usually I am very intrigued by the designers’ influences and references – and I have fun making up quite a few of my own when looking at collections – but Fred Butler’s work is for me so striking and fulfilling visually that my mind feels too drunk with pure aesthetic pleasure to care for any explanation in other terms.

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

All photography by Maria Papadimitriou

Categories ,A Shaded View on Fashion, ,accessories, ,accessories designer, ,Agyness Deyn, ,Alun Davies, ,Amelia’s Magazine, ,ASVOF, ,Beth Ditto, ,Bishi, ,Catherine Meadows, ,Charli XCX, ,Collaborations, ,Deborah Moon, ,Diane Pernet, ,EDE, ,Elisha Smith-Leverock, ,Ella Dror PR, ,Fashion Film, ,Fred Butler, ,i-D, ,Isabella Sumner, ,japanese, ,Kim Howells, ,Kimonos, ,Knits, ,Knotted, ,Konstantinos Menelaou, ,La Roux, ,Lady Gaga, ,London Fashion Week, ,Maria Papadimitriou, ,Mitika Chohan, ,monochrome, ,music, ,Nail Art, ,Nicki Minaj, ,Nicola Haigh, ,Noah’s Ark, ,Obi Belts, ,origami, ,pastels, ,Patrick Wolf, ,piers atkinson, ,Portico Rooms, ,Props, ,Quilting, ,rainbow, ,Red Bull Catwalk Studio, ,Red Bull Music Academy, ,Secret Danger Sister, ,Somerset House, ,Sushi, ,Twisted, ,Zaiba Jabbar

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Amelia’s Magazine | Graduate Fashion Week 2010: Edinburgh College of Art

cheap medications photo by Julian Abrams” width=”480″ height=”640″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-18752″ />
Conformist

Blythe house, prescription once a colossal bustling post office savings bank full of clerks’ activity now stands (almost) empty as a memorial to times past. Currently the home of not only the Victoria and Albert Archives but the British and Science Museum it double doors remain closed even to those who work in the museums. It takes a special request to get inside these vaults.

Luckily for a limited time (these doors swing back tight at the end of June) the V&A section has had its doors pushed slightly ajar by fashion curator Judith Clark and psychoanalyst Adam Philips. Together they have curated a delicate show examining ideas and understandings of dress alongside concepts of preservation in the midst of a vast archive that documents humanity’s progression.


Essential

Titled The Concise Dictionary of A Dress, the exhibition consists of 11 exhibits nestling amongst the archives, taking up position in the nooks and crannies of the ghostly building. The audience is shepherded silently though the sections of the building we were allowed to see, at times overwhelmed by the space and the delicate nature of the objects it protects. Eyes were all too often caught by the wondrous treasures awaiting selection by the V&A curators, their position elevated from number x of an extensive hoard into object A indicative of the human condition.

11 exhibits accompanied by 11 pieces of card form a mini-lexicon of dress (a concise representation of ideas of what it is to ‘dress’). Is it as comfortable suggests … or do you find yourself agreeing with Loose? Or do the words fall flat?

Armoured
Comfortable
Conformist
Creased
Essential
Fashionable
Loose
Measured
Plain
Pretentious
Tight

Words and their meanings can provide a point of conflict: at times the words on the card and the image of dress produced a harmonious moment of why people chose particular items of dress. In this moment the dictionary of a dress becomes clear as the exhibition mirrors the dictionary’s almost circular nature of providing two meanings for one word.

The curators have invited the audience into a hidden world; the vast depths of the museum. The audiences’ eye drawn to objects not in the exhibition but whose presence demands attention: Why is it there? Why did they choose this room or that cupboard? Can meanings be created between the juxtaposition of dress and the objects in the room?

A weekly definition taken from the website: MEASURED 1. Against chaos; a way of thinking about disarray; calculated excess. 2. The fitted as fitting. 3. Proportion as the mother of virtue. 4. The milder ecstasies of the considered. 5. Contained by the idea of containment.

The word and their phrases present one idea of what it is you are viewing, whilst the objects potentially visualise and neuter simultaneously them. The sentences add conflict as they embellish the meaning of the single word and the idea of why we dress, collect and preserve.

No word is mealy a word, it becomes heavy through each individual understanding of it’s context. Each interpretation of the exhibits arrived upon by our unique thought processes formed by our own experiences. It is an oddly lonely experience wandering though the locked archives looking at how meaning is embedded into objects. Can meanings be created from the idea that a function of the archive is personal, an act of preservation and eventually historical.

Creased the final exhibit presented a Junya Watanabe dress behind the bars of an old coal bunker open to the outside world. The end mimics the beginning (the first exhibit high on the roof stands a ghostly gown open to the elements, it’s resin skeleton delicate in the glare and heat of the sun) two decisions that scream against the museums usual desire to keep everything hidden, safe and in temperature controlled room to ensure the objects preservation.


Armoured

Seen against the sky scape of London, the resin dress showed just how delicate the human body, our sense of dress and concepts of who we are can be against the hard bustling ever moving city.

Take yourself on a guided walk through an unseen section of our national museums, question the ideas of preservation and the difference between the museum’s archive and your personal ‘hoard’
Watch the trailer here: the_concise_dictionary_of_dress_trailer

Trailer: The Concise Dictionary of a Dress
sales photo by Julian Abrams” width=”480″ height=”640″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-18752″ />
Conformist

Blythe House, once a colossal bustling post office savings bank full of clerks’ activity now stands (almost) empty as a memorial to times past. Currently the home of not only the Victoria and Albert Archives but the British and Science Museum it double doors remain closed even to those who work in the museums. It takes a special request to get inside these vaults.

Luckily for a limited time (these doors swing back tight at the end of June) the V&A section has had its doors pushed slightly ajar by fashion curator Judith Clark and psychoanalyst Adam Philips. Together they have curated a delicate show examining ideas and understandings of dress alongside concepts of preservation in the midst of a vast archive that documents humanity’s progression.


Essential

Titled The Concise Dictionary of a Dress, the exhibition consists of 11 exhibits nestling amongst the archives, taking up position in the nooks and crannies of the ghostly building. The audience is shepherded silently though the sections of the building we were allowed to see, at times overwhelmed by the space and the delicate nature of the objects it protects. Eyes were all too often caught by the wondrous treasures awaiting selection by V&A curators, their position elevated from number x of an extensive hoard into object A indicative of the human condition.

11 exhibits accompanied by 11 pieces of card form a mini-lexicon of dress (a concise representation of ideas of what it is to ‘dress’). Is it as comfortable suggests … or do you find yourself agreeing with Loose? Or do the words fall flat?

Armoured
Comfortable
Conformist
Creased
Essential
Fashionable
Loose
Measured
Plain
Pretentious
Tight

Words and their meanings can provide a point of conflict: at times the words on the card and the image of dress produced a harmonious moment of why people chose particular items of dress. In this moment the dictionary of a dress becomes clear as the exhibition mirrors the dictionary’s almost circular nature of providing two meanings for one word.

The curators have invited the audience into a hidden world; the vast depths of the museum. The audiences’ eye drawn to objects not in the exhibition but whose presence demands attention: Why is it there? Why did they choose this room or that cupboard? Can meanings be created between the juxtaposition of dress and the objects in the room?

A weekly definition taken from the website: MEASURED 1. Against chaos; a way of thinking about disarray; calculated excess. 2. The fitted as fitting. 3. Proportion as the mother of virtue. 4. The milder ecstasies of the considered. 5. Contained by the idea of containment.

The word and their phrases present one idea of what it is you are viewing, whilst the objects potentially visualise and neuter simultaneously them. The sentences add conflict as they embellish the meaning of the single word and the idea of why we dress, collect and preserve.

No word is mealy a word, it becomes heavy through each individual understanding of it’s context. Each interpretation of the exhibits arrived upon by our unique thought processes formed by our own experiences. It is an oddly lonely experience wandering though the locked archives looking at how meaning is embedded into objects. Can meanings be created from the idea that a function of the archive is personal, an act of preservation and eventually historical.

Creased the final exhibit presented a Junya Watanabe dress behind the bars of an old coal bunker open to the outside world. The end mimics the beginning (the first exhibit high on the roof stands a ghostly gown open to the elements, it’s resin skeleton delicate in the glare and heat of the sun) two decisions that scream against the museums usual desire to keep everything hidden, safe and in temperature controlled room to ensure the objects preservation.


Armoured

Seen against the sky scape of London, the resin dress showed just how delicate the human body, our sense of dress and concepts of who we are can be against the hard bustling ever moving city.

Take yourself on a guided walk through an unseen section of our national museums, question the ideas of preservation and the difference between the museum’s archive and your personal ‘hoard.’

Watch the trailer here: The Concise Dictionary of a Dress
approved photo by Julian Abrams” width=”480″ height=”640″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-18752″ />
Conformist

Blythe House, once a colossal bustling post office savings bank full of clerks’ activity now stands (almost) empty as a memorial to times past. Currently the home of not only the Victoria and Albert Archives but the British and Science Museum it double doors remain closed even to those who work in the museums. It takes a special request to get inside these vaults.

Luckily for a limited time (these doors swing back tight at the end of June) the V&A section has had its doors pushed slightly ajar by fashion curator Judith Clark and psychoanalyst Adam Philips. Together they have curated a delicate show examining ideas and understandings of dress alongside concepts of preservation in the midst of a vast archive that documents humanity’s progression.


Essential

Titled The Concise Dictionary of a Dress, the exhibition consists of 11 exhibits nestling amongst the archives, taking up position in the nooks and crannies of the ghostly building. The audience is shepherded silently though the sections of the building we were allowed to see, at times overwhelmed by the space and the delicate nature of the objects it protects. Eyes were all too often caught by the wondrous treasures awaiting selection by V&A curators, their position elevated from number x of an extensive hoard into object A indicative of the human condition.

11 exhibits accompanied by 11 pieces of card form a mini-lexicon of dress (a concise representation of ideas of what it is to ‘dress’). Is it as comfortable suggests … or do you find yourself agreeing with Loose? Or do the words fall flat?

Armoured
Comfortable
Conformist
Creased
Essential
Fashionable
Loose
Measured
Plain
Pretentious
Tight

Words and their meanings can provide a point of conflict: at times the words on the card and the image of dress produced a harmonious moment of why people chose particular items of dress. In this moment the dictionary of a dress becomes clear as the exhibition mirrors the dictionary’s almost circular nature of providing two meanings for one word.

The curators have invited the audience into a hidden world; the vast depths of the museum. The audiences’ eye drawn to objects not in the exhibition but whose presence demands attention: Why is it there? Why did they choose this room or that cupboard? Can meanings be created between the juxtaposition of dress and the objects in the room?

A weekly definition taken from the website: MEASURED 1. Against chaos; a way of thinking about disarray; calculated excess. 2. The fitted as fitting. 3. Proportion as the mother of virtue. 4. The milder ecstasies of the considered. 5. Contained by the idea of containment.

The word and their phrases present one idea of what it is you are viewing, whilst the objects potentially visualise and neuter simultaneously them. The sentences add conflict as they embellish the meaning of the single word and the idea of why we dress, collect and preserve.

No word is mealy a word, it becomes heavy through each individual understanding of it’s context. Each interpretation of the exhibits arrived upon by our unique thought processes formed by our own experiences. It is an oddly lonely experience wandering though the locked archives looking at how meaning is embedded into objects. Can meanings be created from the idea that a function of the archive is personal, an act of preservation and eventually historical.

Creased the final exhibit presented a Junya Watanabe dress behind the bars of an old coal bunker open to the outside world. The end mimics the beginning (the first exhibit high on the roof stands a ghostly gown open to the elements, it’s resin skeleton delicate in the glare and heat of the sun) two decisions that scream against the museums usual desire to keep everything hidden, safe and in temperature controlled room to ensure the objects preservation.


Armoured

Seen against the sky scape of London, the resin dress showed just how delicate the human body, our sense of dress and concepts of who we are can be against the hard bustling ever moving city.

Take yourself on a guided walk through an unseen section of our national museums, question the ideas of preservation and the difference between the museum’s archive and your personal ‘hoard.’

Watch the trailer here: The Concise Dictionary of a Dress
abortion photo by Julian Abrams” width=”480″ height=”640″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-18752″ />
Conformist

Blythe House, patient once a colossal bustling post office savings bank full of clerks’ activity now stands (almost) empty as a memorial to times past. Currently the home of not only the Victoria and Albert Archives but the British and Science Museum it double doors remain closed even to those who work in the museums. It takes a special request to get inside these vaults.

viagra photo by Julian Abrams” width=”480″ height=”640″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-18750″ />

Luckily for a limited time (these doors swing back tight at the end of June) the V&A section has had its doors pushed slightly ajar by fashion curator Judith Clark and psychoanalyst Adam Philips. Together they have curated a delicate show examining ideas and understandings of dress alongside concepts of preservation in the midst of a vast archive that documents humanity’s progression.


Essential

Titled The Concise Dictionary of a Dress, the exhibition consists of 11 exhibits nestling amongst the archives, taking up position in the nooks and crannies of the ghostly building. The audience is shepherded silently though the sections of the building we were allowed to see, at times overwhelmed by the space and the delicate nature of the objects it protects. Eyes were all too often caught by the wondrous treasures awaiting selection by V&A curators, their position elevated from number x of an extensive hoard into object A indicative of the human condition.

11 exhibits accompanied by 11 pieces of card form a mini-lexicon of dress (a concise representation of ideas of what it is to ‘dress’). Is it as comfortable suggests … or do you find yourself agreeing with Loose? Or do the words fall flat?

Armoured
Comfortable
Conformist
Creased
Essential
Fashionable
Loose
Measured
Plain
Pretentious
Tight

Words and their meanings can provide a point of conflict: at times the words on the card and the image of dress produced a harmonious moment of why people chose particular items of dress. In this moment the dictionary of a dress becomes clear as the exhibition mirrors the dictionary’s almost circular nature of providing two meanings for one word.

The curators have invited the audience into a hidden world; the vast depths of the museum. The audiences’ eye drawn to objects not in the exhibition but whose presence demands attention: Why is it there? Why did they choose this room or that cupboard? Can meanings be created between the juxtaposition of dress and the objects in the room?

A weekly definition taken from the website: MEASURED 1. Against chaos; a way of thinking about disarray; calculated excess. 2. The fitted as fitting. 3. Proportion as the mother of virtue. 4. The milder ecstasies of the considered. 5. Contained by the idea of containment.

The word and their phrases present one idea of what it is you are viewing, whilst the objects potentially visualise and neuter simultaneously them. The sentences add conflict as they embellish the meaning of the single word and the idea of why we dress, collect and preserve.

No word is mealy a word, it becomes heavy through each individual understanding of it’s context. Each interpretation of the exhibits arrived upon by our unique thought processes formed by our own experiences. It is an oddly lonely experience wandering though the locked archives looking at how meaning is embedded into objects. Can meanings be created from the idea that a function of the archive is personal, an act of preservation and eventually historical.

Creased the final exhibit presented a Junya Watanabe dress behind the bars of an old coal bunker open to the outside world. The end mimics the beginning (the first exhibit high on the roof stands a ghostly gown open to the elements, it’s resin skeleton delicate in the glare and heat of the sun) two decisions that scream against the museums usual desire to keep everything hidden, safe and in temperature controlled room to ensure the objects preservation.


Armoured

Seen against the sky scape of London, the resin dress showed just how delicate the human body, our sense of dress and concepts of who we are can be against the hard bustling ever moving city.

Take yourself on a guided walk through an unseen section of our national museums, question the ideas of preservation and the difference between the museum’s archive and your personal ‘hoard.’

Watch the trailer here: The Concise Dictionary of a Dress

Illustration by Emma Rockett, viagra dosage from her graduate work

So on Sunday it was down to the beautifully named Anastasia Arden-Maccabee to open the Edinburgh College of Art show on Sunday. Her fresh colour palette of a variety of pastel colours brought welcome respite from a lot of monochrome collections at Graduate Fashion Week.

Models were draped in lightweight fabrics that skimmed the knee and gave shapely silhouettes. Intricate flaps and folds had created the illusion of origami.

Making more literal use of Origami techniques was Eliza Borkowska, whose models appeared like futuristic sirens. Defining creases and thick lines shaped short dresses into artistic creations, of which Martin Margiela could even put his name to.

Charlotte Helyar’s collection was one of the most innovative and enjoyable of the week – enjoyable because it was hilarious to watch everybody scrabble for their 3D glasses as her first model appeared.

She’d made use of 3D print techniques, see – and applied them to floor-length dresses and floaty, flattering tops.


Illustration by Charlotte Helyar, from her graduate work

Emma Rockett’s collection screamed English heritage, another theme we’ve seen a lot of this week. Emma had executed it with panache. Traditional tailoring techniques were employed for candy-stripe blazers and high-waisted skirts, accessorised with up-side-down Boater hats and vibrant pink stockings.


Illustration by Emma Rockett, from her graduate work

It was Lisa Leissos who presented the most demure, sophisticated collection of this bunch. Her all-red collection of maxi-dresses and knitwear had real flare, and deeper reds were used for some classic knitwear. Sweeping lines gave the collection a very modern feel.


Illustration by Lisa Leissos, from her graduate work

A refreshing change came in the form of Alistair Nimmo’s mermaid-like goddesses. Flamenco-style fringing on skirt waists and hems created this desired effect, but a palette of nude, aqua and navy kept it contemporary and grown-up. Bustiers and jackets with circles at the chest also gave the collection a sexy edge.

Alexander White’s sweetheart necklines and tulip skirts also oozed sex appeal, while harsh tailored trouser suits contrasted this. Alexander has used an interesting technique for skirts, which had an anatomical look – God knows what it was, but I suspect it may have been organza or wool (!) weaved together in organic forms.

I also loved Isabel Wong’s layered organza jackets and dresses with olive green and nude colours; Louise Manson’s bohemian-inspired collection with synched waists, blouson sleeves and tiny knitted caps; and Louise Holgrove’s exaggerated paper-bag waists and sumptuous, heavy materials.

It was to Qi Zhang to close the show, and while I really liked her modernist collection, I didn’t think it was the best. Models wore lampshade-shaped helmets which were just about translucent enough for them to see, and her patchwork ensembles inspired by her mother made great use of a variety of materials.

While Edinburgh may not have had an outrageous show-stopper, it had technique, innovation and originality aplenty.

Splendid!

All photographs by Matt Bramford

Categories ,3D, ,Alexander White, ,Alistair Nimmo, ,Anastasia Arden-Maccabee, ,Boater hats, ,Charlotte Helyar, ,Earls Court, ,Edinburgh College of Art, ,Eliza Borkowska, ,Emma Rockett, ,English Heritage, ,Flamenco, ,Graduate Fashion Week 2010, ,Isabel Wong, ,knitwear, ,Lisa Leissos, ,london, ,Martin Margiela, ,menswear, ,Organza, ,origami, ,Qi Zhang, ,Womenswear

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Amelia’s Magazine | Constructive Studio: London Fashion Week S/S 2013 Preview Interview

Constructive Studio scarves
Constructive Studio is a brand new label launching this season, a collaboration between graphic designer Craig Yamey and fashion designer Ian Scott Kettle, who discovered a mutual love of street art, colourful painterly patterns and photographic collaging, put together and engineered into dramatic shapes for fashion design and beyond. Craig Yamey tells us more about what inspired this unique partnership.

Constructive Studio bow_ties
How did you meet Ian Scott Kettle and what made you get together to create a new label?
Ian and I met at a Central Saint Martins Degree show in 2009 through a mutual friend. We instantly hit it off and it was clear we shared the same approach to designing and similar influences. When I saw Ian’s portfolio I was blown away. He had recently worked as a designer for Alberta Ferretti and I had just returned from a year travelling through Vietnam so I was buzzing with ideas and new sketch books. I could see parallels between Ian’s engineered forms and my own illustration work so we started to investigate ways in which we could marry our skill set. We were both freelancing and teaching at the time so initially we would just meet up to show each other ideas. Ian would give me sketches and I would expand on them or design a print that could be engineered into his ideas. We soon realised that there was a strong aesthetic being born and that’s when we decided to form a new label and get a studio together. It was great to have a dedicated work space and have some set deadlines to work towards.

Constructive Studio lace_face
As a graphic designer how hard is it for you to get your head around fashion and what new things have you learnt recently?
Working in commercial graphic design often requires you to turn around print-ready artwork in an hour. The greatest lesson Ian has taught me is the importance of an incubation period; time to research and develop ideas, materials and processes. I am used to working with pen, ink and computer, my output has always existed in a 2-dimensional realm and I have only been restricted by my own time frames. Now relying on suppliers to send samples of materials, fittings and experimenting with print techniques means I’ve needed to create a much longer time scale to complete work. The other area within fashion that has been a great learning curve is understanding the difference between designing for flat graphics such as posters or CD covers and designing for engineered prints and scarves where fabric drapes and hangs off he body. It’s been great learning how different materials function.

Constructive Studio epaulets
Who do you hope will appreciate the various elements of your collection, eg. the bow ties and the plush dolls?
We have always been interested in creating a range that cuts through the boundaries between high-end luxury fashion and something more ‘street’ in it’s aesthetic; that’s my graphics background coming through! The colour palettes are bold and young and there is a sense of fun to the work. The bow ties are unisex and proving equally popular amongst women and men – I like the idea that certain pieces can transcend gender, an aesthetic we pushed in The Look Book. I always thought the plush dolls had quite a dark edge, using weeping Victorian-etched faces. I pitched the dolls at a KID ROBOTdesigner toy” market but it’s great to see how many young kids love them too.
 
Constructive Studio lazer_cut_tie
What’s the inspiration behind the newest design elements?
The influences for the first collection are a marriage of opposites; we are fusing our own hand-painted brush strokes with computer-generated vector-lines. Juxtaposing the mark-making of street art with photographic images of nature; clouds and flora. We like to mix strong angulated engineered forms with softer painted patterns and conversely enjoy mixing the strength of bold geometric shapes on delicate materials such as Habotai silk. We are very interested in exploring non-fashion materials to create our accessories, using polypropelene and acetates to make our collars. We like the fact that certain pieces such as the acrylic toggles and plastic collars sit somewhere between fashion and product design and our work has been picked up by The London Design Festival which focuses more on homeware and furniture design. 

Constructive Studio pink_collar
How do the graphics work with the complicated pattern cuts, and what is the process of designing together?
Creating engineered prints is an exciting process of passing the ball back and forth to one another. With the bow ties Ian will start with a sketch which we both look at and consider any necessary adjustments to the design. Ian will then create a pattern and make a Calico prototype. When the form is created I can gauge how the shape twists and folds, which areas will be exposed or overlap when worn. I then start designing the direction of the pattern in accordance to the form. Ian will then give me the flat pattern on which will apply my prints. Once sewn we can see which areas of the design need re-adjusting. With the meter silk scarves it’s important to understand how the scarf will be worn and will fold. Sometimes a design will look beautiful flat but when worn we realise the scale of certain elements need re-adjusting to have maximum impact on the body. 2-Dimensional graphics is easy to assess on paper but graphics for fashion prints needs testing and adjusting on the body.

Constructive Studio cleric_collars
What else do you hope to create in the Constructive Studio range?
We will be designing a range of T-shirts for the next collection. Instead of applying a print to a standard T-shirt we will be engineering the designs into the form and creating the Tees from scratch. We will also be introducing the scarves in larger sizes and lazer cut shapes, we are keen to engineer our patterns into more unusual shapes of scarf beyond the standard square format. The bow ties have been one of the most successful items in the collection so we will be applying new prints to our 3 shapes.

Constructive Studio plastic_collar
Constructive Studio launches this fashion week. What has a typical day been like in the run up to such a busy period?
Since the Look Book came back from print, we have taken to the streets, presenting the collection to buyers and the press. We have found that sending emails to buyers is no where near as successful as visiting shops, meeting with buyers and showing key pieces, so the past week we have targeted specific shops in London. A typical day also involves working on production, both to supply our forthcoming on-line retailers and to create stock for the open studio events that happen at Cockpit Arts where we are based. Then we start researching and developing the next collection to stay ahead of schedule, so next week we are off to Premier Vision in Paris to source fabrics and fittings and do some research into the French market. 

constructive studio cushion
What do you hope for over the next twelve months?
The next year its all about developing the collection, sourcing quality suppliers and getting the CONSTRUCTIVE STUDIO label known. London & Paris Fashion Week is on the horizon for the February Collection as this season its all about creating introductions. We have some exciting collaborations ahead of us and will be developing more products to apply the Constructive Studio aesthetic to.

constructive studio bowties
See more from Constructive Studio on their website, follow the label on twitter @constructive2 and facebook. The new collection will be stocked on Culture Label and with other stockists soon. Craig Yamey is also featured in my first book: Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration.

Categories ,@constructive2, ,Alberta Ferretti, ,Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Cockpit Arts, ,Constructive Studio, ,Designer Toy, ,Facebook, ,Habotai silk, ,Ian Scott Kettle, ,KID ROBOT, ,London Design Festival, ,Look Book, ,Plush Toys, ,Plushies, ,Premier Vision, ,twitter, ,Vietnam

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Amelia’s Magazine | An Interview with Jewellery Designer Kate Sibley, talking about her ‘Future Jewellery’ Collection

Kate Sibley Jewellery by Laura Griffin
Kate Sibley Jewellery by Laura Griffin

When I first looked at images of Kate Sibley’s stone ‘paper’ Future Jewellery I was reminded of a gorgeous book I fell in love with a few years ago called ‘The Paper Jewelry Collection: Easy to wear and ready to make pop out artwear’. It features beautiful patterns printed on variously shaped paper which you can remove from the book and fold in different ways to create eye catching jewellery pieces. I still have this book and, like Kate Sibley’s jewellery, find it hugely inspiring. Both push boundaries in terms of what form jewellery pieces can have and what materials they are made of – the latter being especially crucial at the moment in terms of sustainability. The limited edition pieces by Kate Sibley are transitory and deliberately have a short lifespan, agreeing with the fast fashion trend. Yet the jewellery, made from non-toxic stone ‘paper’, can be infinitely recycled or safely composted at the end of its life, leaving no negative imprint on the environment. Here Kate Sibley shares with us a little about the context, inspirations and processes behind her origami-like jewellery collection.

Kate Sibley Jewellery Necklaces group

You started out as a graphic designer, how did you become interested in jewellery design specifically and decide to do an MA at Central Saint Martins?
My undergraduate degree was in eco design and design studies at Goldsmiths College where my final piece was in fact a jewellery collection. The graphics route was purely by chance and a result of the experience I gained on work placements while still at university. It became a logical career path upon graduation as it gave me the opportunity to make money as a practicing designer. After several years of full time employment I took the step to become a freelance graphic designer which enabled me to focus more on other creative interests including my jewellery. I then applied to continue my studies at Central St Martins as it would provide me with a network of mentors and place me in a stimulating environment to further develop my ideas.

Kate Sibley Necklace
Kate Sibley Necklace
How does your graphic design background influence your jewellery collections?
My decision to work with paper for my latest collection was born out of my desire to question the fast fashion industry and explore sustainable materials and systems. After a year of intensive materials research the logical path took me to the stone paper I use today. Having a deep knowledge of graphics and print enabled me to really explore a unique approach to my jewellery where I had very few restrictions. I could explore, colour, tone, pattern and form in a way that you can’t with traditional jewellery making processes. It also had its problems as it makes it incredibly hard to make decisions when your options are endless so you need to be confident in your ideas and follow them through with conviction.

Kate Sibley Jewellery by Isher Dhiman
Kate Sibley Jewellery by Isher Dhiman

Could you tell us a bit more about the ‘Cradle to Cradle’ theory and closed loop systems and the influence they’ve had on your work?
The term Cradle to Cradle refers to a designed system where commercial productivity and sustainability can co-exist and benefit one another. This is achieved by ensuring that products and materials are designed to fit onto a biological and/or a technical system – closed loop. A biological system refers to materials that can harmlessly decompose and return to the earth providing nourishment rather than toxic landfill, whereas a technical system is one based on materials being reprocessed repeatedly without degradation or any loss in quality. Cradle to Cradle has influenced my work greatly. What I like is that it provides a rational and practical solution to a sustainable future whilst celebrating abundance and creativity. Rather than the consumer being half-heartedly encouraged to change their consumer behavior, the ball is firmly in the court of designers and manufacturers to design better products. It is a challenge, but designers like myself thrive on creative challenges.
My current collection is designed with materials that fit within both a biological and a technical cycle.

Kate Sibley Pin
Where do you source the paper from which your current collection is made?
I source the paper from a supplier in Europe as it is not available in the UK.

v
Kate Sibley Jewellery by Polly Stopforth

Where did you learn to fold so beautifully and by what process do you apply the eye catching patterns and colours on the pieces?
Strangely I’ve always had a fascination with folding paper. I think it’s something to do with pushing a material to its limits and really exploring it’s potential. The techniques and folds I’ve used to produce this collection have all been developed by myself as a way to overcome design issues and to form the shapes and structures I wanted. The colour and patterns are screen printed by myself.

Kate Sibley Necklace
You are the co-director of the design studio Sibley Grove with your husband Jeremy Grove. How do the other design disciplines the studio is involved in impact your jewellery work? Is working with diverse worlds helping your creative juices?
Running the design studio alongside developing my jewellery collections is hard work, but I enjoy it as I thrive on being busy and productive. We work across several disciplines, interior design, architecture, graphics and product, and I find all of these areas inspire my jewellery because they expose me to materials and processes I might not otherwise come across. The jewellery also positively influences the rest of the work our studio does, because it is a platform to be more experimental and try new things, but on a smaller scale.

Kate Sibley Future Jewellery Necklace by Shy Illustrations
Kate Sibley Future Jewellery Necklace by Shy Illustrations

In terms of fashion and jewellery design what are your inspirations?
My inspirations for this collection have mainly come from the art deco architecture of downtown Manhattan, where I am particularly attracted to the repeat patterns that are made with tiling, patterns cast into building facades and the forms made by railings and ironwork. In general though, my inspirations can come from anywhere, from the detailing on a train seat, to the beauty of an insects wing.

Kate Sibley Earrings
Kate Sibley Earrings
Kate Sibley Earrings
For your near future collections do you plan to explore more folding techniques and continue the use of ‘paper’ or can you reveal some more sustainable materials you have in mind using?
This collection of earrings will evolve into other shapes and colours, which will be released each fashion season, but all future pieces will fit into the universal earring clasp. I am interested in exploring other ways of printing on and texturing the surface of the paper material, and feel there is great potential to explore this further. I intend for the collection to grow and to release necklaces, bangles and brooches in the future. I am always researching new and interesting materials and have a growing collection which I will certainly experiment with in the future.

Kate Sibley Jewellery by Katie Allen
Kate Sibley Jewellery by Katie Allen

How could one become the owner of one of your beautiful pieces?
At the moment I am accepting commissions to produce bespoke pieces of any scale. This specific collection will be launched for sale in the new year and you will be able to buy pieces through a number of galleries and shops. You can contact us through our website www.sibleygrove.com, or at studio@sibleygrove.com to be added to our mailing list for further updates, or to talk about commissioning possibilities.

Categories ,Central Saint Martins, ,colour, ,Cradle to Cradle, ,Designer’s Block, ,Earrings, ,Eco-Design, ,fashion, ,Fast Fashion, ,Folding, ,geometric, ,Gold Leaf, ,goldsmiths, ,Graphic Design, ,Isher Dhiman, ,jewellery, ,Jewellery Collection, ,Kate Sibley, ,Katie Allen, ,Laura Griffin, ,Maria Papadimitriou, ,Necklaces, ,origami, ,paper, ,pattern, ,Polly Stopforth, ,Printing, ,screenprinting, ,Shy Illustrations, ,Sibley Grove, ,Stone Paper, ,Sustainable Fashion, ,Sustainable Materilas

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Amelia’s Magazine | Craft: Make your own Christmas cards

Printed cards Ebeneezer by Hannah Bullivant

Illustration by Emma Block

You may think that Christmas cards are harmless tokens of festive cheer, sale but there is more to them than well wishing tacky Santa’s. When done well, with thought, they have the potential to convey festive cheer, bring good news and even re-kindle relationships. They can also, however, be completely pointless (dear Dave from Sam. Why bother) cause large levels of guilt, highlight your own lack of organization, and generate sit-com levels of gossip and rumour (“Drunken Unkle Nigel is SO off the list”). Manufacturing and sending Christmas cards wastes thousands of tonnes of carbon every year, and most of the cards end up in landfill anyway.


Illustration by Daria Hlazatova

In fact, you might very well decide simply not to send them, and I really don’t blame you. (Full of Christmas cheer, I am.) Alternatively, to be slightly less of a scrooge, you could join me in making just a few cards, to accompany presents or perhaps as presents.


Illustration by Ellie Sutton

Here are a few ideas for some very simple and quick home-made cards that anybody could make, (even if they don’t consider themselves to be very crafty.) They are made with materials that most people will have lying around or within easy reach, and are designed to be very simple to make. A home- made card will be received much more warmly than a selection from an Asda multi pack, it will save lots of money, and making them is bound to make you feel festive. So stick some cheesy Christmas music on, pour yourself a glass of mulled wine and get stuck in.


Illustration by Ellie Sutton

Firstly, the easiest of them all, the potato stamp. Oh how I love the humble potato stamp! (I have written about the joys of potato stamping before ) A great craft to do with kids, its also fun for a big kids (ahem) and you can produce loads of cards very quickly.

Carefully carve your potato with a knife into the shape you desire. Get your card ready first then stamp away. Decorate with sequins, doodles, pressed flowers, or buttons, as above. You can buy recycled card here.

Save your wrapping paper and cards, cut them into little triangles then stick them across pre folded card with glue to make festive mini bunting. I saved the gold paper above from a birthday present and it has come in very handy for my Christmas cards. If you don’t fancy your chances at fancy handwriting, print your Christmas message out in a nice font.

I googled origami Christmas trees and found these easy to follow instructions. I recycled newspaper, the pages of an old book and some old maps and folded them into these Christmas cards/decorations. I used a few dabs of glue to secure the folds then strung each tree with a bit of thread and wrote my Christmas message on the back.

Here I have used up some of my tiny fabric scraps (which I keep) to cut out triangles to make into mini trees.

And if you REALLY don’t fancy your creative chances, then just print your cards. I have shamelessly stolen this idea from my friend, but he doesn’t’ mind my plagiarism (I checked). Pick your words, pick a nice font (you can get some great ones online, like here ), then play with the margins on a word document to position the words in the bottom right quarter of the page. Put some appropriately festive card in the printer and your done. If you don’t have a printer at home- you could borrow a friends (or sneakily use the one in the office. Shh)

• For envelopes, how about recycling magazine pages? My doorstep is currently full of Christmas catalogues. Tutorial here
• Remember also that you could also send an E Card if the mood takes you. Use the designs from the clever people at 10:10, or if you are a decent drawer (hello illustrators) then you can draw something amazing and send it as an e-card. Or how about a video card with a stop frame animation? Lots of effort but WAY COOL.
• Recycle any cards you do receive for gift tags and other decorations next Christmas
• Keep decent wrapping paper too, it comes in very useful for a number of crafty purposes, including the projects above.

I’ll be back later this week with some more ideas for home made Christmas fare, and a wee bit of a rant.

Happy festive season to you, dear readers.

Categories ,Christmas, ,Christmas cards, ,craft, ,Daria Hlazatova, ,earth, ,Eco-friendly, ,Ellie Sutton, ,Emma Block, ,Hannah Bullivant, ,Mass consumerism, ,origami, ,Potato Stamp, ,recycle

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Amelia’s Magazine | Craft: Make your own Christmas cards

Printed cards Ebeneezer by Hannah Bullivant

Illustration by Emma Block

You may think that Christmas cards are harmless tokens of festive cheer, sale but there is more to them than well wishing tacky Santa’s. When done well, with thought, they have the potential to convey festive cheer, bring good news and even re-kindle relationships. They can also, however, be completely pointless (dear Dave from Sam. Why bother) cause large levels of guilt, highlight your own lack of organization, and generate sit-com levels of gossip and rumour (“Drunken Unkle Nigel is SO off the list”). Manufacturing and sending Christmas cards wastes thousands of tonnes of carbon every year, and most of the cards end up in landfill anyway.


Illustration by Daria Hlazatova

In fact, you might very well decide simply not to send them, and I really don’t blame you. (Full of Christmas cheer, I am.) Alternatively, to be slightly less of a scrooge, you could join me in making just a few cards, to accompany presents or perhaps as presents.


Illustration by Ellie Sutton

Here are a few ideas for some very simple and quick home-made cards that anybody could make, (even if they don’t consider themselves to be very crafty.) They are made with materials that most people will have lying around or within easy reach, and are designed to be very simple to make. A home- made card will be received much more warmly than a selection from an Asda multi pack, it will save lots of money, and making them is bound to make you feel festive. So stick some cheesy Christmas music on, pour yourself a glass of mulled wine and get stuck in.


Illustration by Ellie Sutton

Firstly, the easiest of them all, the potato stamp. Oh how I love the humble potato stamp! (I have written about the joys of potato stamping before ) A great craft to do with kids, its also fun for a big kids (ahem) and you can produce loads of cards very quickly.

Carefully carve your potato with a knife into the shape you desire. Get your card ready first then stamp away. Decorate with sequins, doodles, pressed flowers, or buttons, as above. You can buy recycled card here.

Save your wrapping paper and cards, cut them into little triangles then stick them across pre folded card with glue to make festive mini bunting. I saved the gold paper above from a birthday present and it has come in very handy for my Christmas cards. If you don’t fancy your chances at fancy handwriting, print your Christmas message out in a nice font.

I googled origami Christmas trees and found these easy to follow instructions. I recycled newspaper, the pages of an old book and some old maps and folded them into these Christmas cards/decorations. I used a few dabs of glue to secure the folds then strung each tree with a bit of thread and wrote my Christmas message on the back.

Here I have used up some of my tiny fabric scraps (which I keep) to cut out triangles to make into mini trees.

And if you REALLY don’t fancy your creative chances, then just print your cards. I have shamelessly stolen this idea from my friend, but he doesn’t’ mind my plagiarism (I checked). Pick your words, pick a nice font (you can get some great ones online, like here ), then play with the margins on a word document to position the words in the bottom right quarter of the page. Put some appropriately festive card in the printer and your done. If you don’t have a printer at home- you could borrow a friends (or sneakily use the one in the office. Shh)

• For envelopes, how about recycling magazine pages? My doorstep is currently full of Christmas catalogues. Tutorial here
• Remember also that you could also send an E Card if the mood takes you. Use the designs from the clever people at 10:10, or if you are a decent drawer (hello illustrators) then you can draw something amazing and send it as an e-card. Or how about a video card with a stop frame animation? Lots of effort but WAY COOL.
• Recycle any cards you do receive for gift tags and other decorations next Christmas
• Keep decent wrapping paper too, it comes in very useful for a number of crafty purposes, including the projects above.

I’ll be back later this week with some more ideas for home made Christmas fare, and a wee bit of a rant.

Happy festive season to you, dear readers.

Categories ,Christmas, ,Christmas cards, ,craft, ,Daria Hlazatova, ,earth, ,Eco-friendly, ,Ellie Sutton, ,Emma Block, ,Hannah Bullivant, ,Mass consumerism, ,origami, ,Potato Stamp, ,recycle

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Amelia’s Magazine | Plymouth College of Art: Photography Graduate Show 2011 Review

Plymouth college of art photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jeremy Morris
Detail of photograph by Jeremy Morris.

There were a few photographers whose work I really liked at Plymouth College of Art Photography degree show:

Plymouth college of art photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jeremy Morris
Plymouth college of art photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jeremy Morris
Working together with Ba Fashion student Christopher McGovern Jeremy Morris had produced these photos as part of an ongoing series of work inspired by the fragility of life in the deep ocean in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The tangled garments represent the strangling force of oil and up close it is just possible to discern the eery features of face and limbs, help caught up in the jumble of fabric.

Plymouth college of art photography graduate exhibition 2011 Lisa Birch
Plymouth college of art photography graduate exhibition 2011 Lisa Birch
Lisa Birch presented only one simple beautifully printed large photograph in grainy black and white: that of a pile of origami cranes, echoing the installation on the window sill next to it. She was inspired by the concept of Wabi-Sabi, where there is beauty to find in even the ugliest of things, and that nothing is perfect or lasts forever. It doesn’t look like many people took one of her Cranes despite the invitation to do so – as a reminder of our mortality. I guess they just thought it too beautiful an installation to disturb.

Plymouth college of art photography graduate exhibition 2011 Paul Critchley
Plymouth college of art photography graduate exhibition 2011 Paul Critchley
Paul Critchley showed a simple collection of ordinary youth – ‘everything you think you know, you may not know.‘ His aim, to question assumptions made about different types of folk. I thought they were interesting portraits, straight up and unaffected, direct and engaging.

Plymouth college of art photography graduate exhibition 2011 Euan Barker
Euan Barker shot specimen sheets of bugs in beautiful large format detail, attempting to understand the obsessional need to make order out of chaos. ‘These trays have been captured here for the first time and are now starting to branch out from their confines in storage.’ The above image is a detail.

Categories ,Christopher McGovern, ,Cranes, ,Deepwater Horizon, ,Euan Barker, ,Free Range, ,Graduate Shows, ,Gulf of Mexico, ,Jeremy Morris, ,Lisa Birch, ,origami, ,Paul Critchley, ,photography, ,Plymouth College of Art, ,Wabi-sabi

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Amelia’s Magazine | Royal College of Art MA Degree Show 2011 Review: Textile Design

Emma Lundgren by Natasha Waddon
Emma Lundgren by Natasha Waddon.

Textiles were displayed amongst product design at the Royal College of Art 2011 degree show – fitting, health as many textile designers showed practical applications for their textiles on cushions, trunks, tables and more.

RCA MA degree show 2011-Emma Shipley RCA MA degree show 2011-Emma Shipley RCA MA degree show 2011-Emma Shipley RCA MA degree show 2011-Emma Shipley RCA MA degree show 2011-Emma Shipley
Emma Shipley had produced an intricate print collection from fine pencil drawings that captured the patterns of nature… and some curious beasties. I’d love some of this on my wall… Follow Emma Shipley on Twitter.

Emma Lundgren by Sophia O'Connor
Emma Lundgren by Sophia O’Connor.

RCA MA degree show 2011-Emma LundgrenRCA MA degree show 2011-Emma LundgrenRCA MA degree show 2011-Emma Lundgren
I loved Emma Lundgren‘s Scandinavian inspired collection of brightly coloured costume and accessories. Think traditional Sami costume meets the rainbows of the Northern Lights. Lapland reworked for the modern age. Follow Emma Lundgren on Twitter.

RCA MA degree show 2011-Yunshin Cho
I liked the striking surface patterns of Yunshin Cho‘s print, based on the skeleton of a ship. It reminds me of wood laminate and 50s design classics. But her website on her business card doesn’t work… hopefully soon?

RCA MA degree show 2011-Rachel Philpott
Rachel Philpott chose a more avante garde approach: cotton covered with glitter and folded into intricate origami shapes. I don’t know how she did it but it was pretty amazing.

Thorunn Arnadottir by Natasha Waddon
Thorunn Arnadottir by Natasha Waddon.

RCA MA degree show 2011-Thorunn Arnadottir RCA MA degree show 2011-Thorunn Arnadottir
Thorunn Arnadottir chose that favourite contemporary source of inspiration the QR code, beading it into this amazing dress. Follow Thorunn Arnadottir on twitter.

RCA MA degree show 2011-Lauren Barfoot
Dresses printed by Lauren Barfoot hung wafting in the light breeze near the window – dominated by orange and purple shades these designs were inspired by Matisse and Fauvism. She’s well up on Twitter. Go follow her.

RCA MA degree show 2011-Kit Miles
Kit Miles collided classical baroque with digital music for these bold graphical prints.

RCA MA degree show 2011-Hannah Sabapathy
An exploration between the natural and manmade was also the basis for Hannah Sabapathy‘s collection – seen here on an architectural side table.

RCA MA degree show 2011-Jonna Saarinen
Jonna Saarinen of Finland brought a Scandinvian sensibility to her Hundreds and Thousands print collection that was display to great affect on picnic ware and table cloths. Follow Jonna Saarinen on Twitter.

RCA MA degree show 2011-David Bradley
David Bradley explored printing and pleats in some extraordinary dresses. Best appreciated for their technical expertise close up.

RCA MA degree show 2011-Kitty Joseph
Kitty Joseph created saturated colour prints in Colour Immersion.

RCA MA degree show 2011-Marie Parsons RCA MA degree show 2011-Marie Parsons
Lastly, Marie Parsons used traditional stitched quilting as the basis for her final piece – a brightly coloured trunk that juxtaposed digital embroidery and laser cutting of latex on hard and soft surfaces. Her collection was influenced by East End building sites, Mykonos Town and Paris flea market finds.

The RCA Graduate Show continues until 3rd July so I highly recommend that you check it out soon, and get on board with my other write ups.

Categories ,2011, ,50s, ,baroque, ,Beading, ,Colour Immersion, ,contemporary, ,cushions, ,David Bradley, ,digital, ,Emma Lundgren, ,Emma Shipley, ,EmmaEvaCaroline, ,Fauvism, ,finland, ,Graduate Shows, ,Hannah Sabapathy, ,Hundreds and Thousands, ,Jonna Saarinen, ,Katherine Joseph, ,Kit Miles, ,Kitty Joseph, ,Lapland, ,Lauren Barfoot, ,Marie Parsons, ,matisse, ,Natasha Waddon, ,Neon, ,Northern Lights, ,origami, ,print, ,Product Design, ,QR code, ,Quilting, ,Rachel Philpott, ,rca, ,Royal College of Art, ,Sami, ,Scandinavian, ,Sophia O’Connor, ,Stitching, ,Textile Design, ,textiles, ,Thorunn Arnadottir, ,traditional, ,Trunk, ,twitter, ,Yunshin Cho

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Amelia’s Magazine | Folded Beauty: Masterpieces in Linen, Exhibition Review

Holburne Museum Illustration of the Holburne Museum by Hannah Smith

I’ve never been very napkin friendly. By which I mean, at meals, rather than lay one on my lap, I’m substantially more likely to leave myself open for the peril of meal related stains. A little tomato sauce here, some balsamic vinegar there, it all comes out in the wash in the end, right?! Although my napkinophobia is more likely down to remnants of childhood indignation than a genuine dislike of linen, it is with the interest (and hesitation) of a non-napkin user that I attended the Folded Beauty exhibition at the Holburne Museum in Bath to see the artworks of a genuine napkinophile.

Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty

Joan Sallas is the go-to guy for historic linen folding, and this exhibition is the first of its kind in the UK. Recreating examples of table decorations from high society in days gone by, these pieces offer a glimpse into the elaborate creations of napkin foldings past. Sallas’ interest in the art of textille folding was brought about through a fascination with the Japanese art of paper folding and there’s a definite appeal to this unique art, which Sallas has almost single-handedly revived. Centrepieces in the style of those that graced dinners in Royal European Court way back when make for dramatic art. These banquet-side fabric sculptures are based on designs and patterns that go as far back as Renaissance Italy and as far forward as the 17th Century when this dinner-table decoration practice reached its peak. Whether it’s a pair of doves with their beaks pressed together in comfort, or a griffin towering above the tabletop, the variety and skill in the pieces is the most impressive part of this exhibition. Animals and architecture are just a few of the things recreated through folds in this exhibit. Sallas, a Catalan cartoonist and origami artist, created all these works using ancient techniques and patterns with the help of his lovely assistant and a heavy dose of research.

Taking place between the 2 February 2013 and the 28 April 2013 this exhibition is part of Bath in Fashion and there’s a whole host of other stuff lined up on the calendar for this festival. For more information you can check out my listing for Bath in Fashion here.

Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty by Gareth A Hopkins
Folded Beauty by Gareth A Hopkins

Although before I entered this exhibit I imagined that it might be a little stuffy for Amelia’s, once I’m here, I understand the playfulness of the art form. Napkins and linen are shaped into snakes, tortoises, forts and even mountains as part of this renaissance of the Renaissance art of napkin folding. I’m a sucker for all things cute, and any exhibition that can put a historical context onto a fort filled with bunnies and birds is OK by me. The birds and bunnies are there as a nod to a particular fancy meal in 1593 where live creatures were captured inside a castle decoration and the gates opened so they could escape as the guests entered the room (accompanied by music and fireworks of course).

Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty

There are children here, I know there must be before I actually see any because I hear a parental voice repeat “don’t touch anything” at least three times in the same number of minutes. As I crouch down to take a photograph of the fabric snake below the main display table a little girl points at the snake conspiratorially and looks at me. “Ssssss,” she hisses and giggles. “Snake,” she says. She presses her hands against the glass and I imagine for a second how she might see the monochrome exhibition: as a Ballroom sized zoo. I hear her mother say one last time “don’t touch anything,” and they are gone.

The exhibition reminds me that fabric has a tang of cardboard-box-possibilities about it. In the same way a simple brown cube can become a space ship, a cave, an oven or even a submarine on a journey to the centre of the earth, these napkins have become creatures, mythical beasts, flowers and (humping) chickens. It reminds me of coming back to a hotel room after a long day at the beach and finding hearts or crocodiles made from towels on your bed. When I was little, a towel-made mother swan and a hand-towel baby signet were smuggled back in a suitcase by my parents for me, they still sit on my dressing table today. Such is the magic of creating something from nothing, and the potential lasting appeal of a fabric creation. Probably because of those two swans, this exhibition resonates with me in an unexpected way.

Folded Beauty by Louise Smith
Folded Beauty by Louise Smith
Folded Beauty by Louise Smith

Working from engravings and records, this virtuoso folder has brought alive, not just the art-form, but the napkins themselves. The centrepiece of this exhibit is a 1.5m high table fountain surrounded by marvelous heraldic beasts. All the elements of the napkin creations that appear in the exhibit are taken from designs from the Baroque era. It’s great insight into the elaborate dinners of ye olden times and a brilliant example of the potential of fabric. There’s even the opportunity to have hands-on group lessons from the artist to shed light into how these wonderful linen beasts are made.

Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty

When you sit down and write exhibition reviews, you discover that if there’s one thing that museums don’t actually provide all that much of, it’s information. This might sound like a strange observation, but when you’re writing a review, a few sentences hardly seems long enough to satisfy your own interest in a piece, let alone the readers. Especially when museum info sheets have been oversimplified to such a degree you can usually count the facts you’ve learnt on one hand. We leave at closing time and when I ask about the possibility of more information, the staff, all around my age, just look at me slightly flumoxed. “We have postcards,” they say. I politely decline.

Folded Beauty by Karolina Burdon
Folded Beauty By Karolina Burdon
Folded Beauty by Karolina Burdon

This show is in partnership with Waddesdon, Nr Aylesbury, Bucks which will host the exhibition from from 22 May to 27 October 2013, meaning that if you’re not located in the Bath area, you might still get a chance to see it. Although the exhibit is moving to a different museum later in the year, once his shows are over Sallas is known for unfolding all his pieces and starting again. This reminds me of short story The Destructors, which I haven’t read, but is infamously mentioned in Donnie Darko. In the story destruction is suggested as its own form of creation. In the same way, the destruction of each of these napkin creations, leads to a new set of wonderful linen beings and objects.

As we exit I fold the exhibition pamphlet in my hands, running my fingers across the paper until it resembles an airplane. I wait for the first gust of wind and I let it go. I don’t look back.

Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty
Folded Beauty

The Folded Beauty exhibition at the Holburne is part of Bath in Fashion and is open between 2nd February 2013 and 28th April 2013. This exhibition is free.

Categories ,Bath, ,Bath In Fashion, ,fabric, ,Folded Beauty, ,Folding, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Hannah Smith, ,Holburne, ,jessicasrcook, ,Joan Sallas, ,Karolina Burdon, ,Linen, ,Louise Smith, ,Napkins, ,origami, ,renaissance

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