Kristel Pent

Typical Freaks AW15 by Bonaramis.

One of my most exciting discoveries at the AW15 Fashion Scout exhibition stands was the work of design duo Seun Ade-Onojobi and Sonia Xiao, who together are Typical Freaks. Their new collection takes inspiration from the unlikely world of dog pageants, an adjunct to the more serious initial inspiration of politics.

Typical Freaks by Louise Andersone.

How did your partnership happen, and how does it work when you are designing a new collection?
We both enjoy colour, print and texture but we have different ways of approaching design. We felt like this slightly ying and yang philosophy in the design process would create something new and exciting. When we begin a new collection we will think of things we are interested in at the moment, or unusual books are trinkets we have found, and research around that theme. We then try and find ways to implement antithetical influences that will make the overall aesthetic a bit more disjointed and nuanced.

You’ve been producing clothing for some time now, what prompted the decision to showcase your wares at LFW this season?
We had been working on slightly more commercial clothing for a while and felt like we needed a platform to showcase our vision of fashion to a wider audience. We felt like there is a space in the industry for a bit more humour, colour and fashion which does not take itself too seriously.

When did you decide to focus on dog shows for AW15, and where did you find the best imagery?
The collection was initially a lot more political. The rosettes came from looking at a lot of right wing politics. We felt the collection was becoming a bit too overtly dark and serious. We always try and keep in mind that there should be some element of humour and maintain our ‘kawaii-punk‘ aesthetic. We then thought about the other uses for rosettes and began looking at dog shows. We got imagery from studying dogs with their owners in general life, researching crufts and the kennel club, and of course the film ‘Best in Show‘ which tonally, was perfect for our collection.

You have also imagined a fictitious female character who streaks at football matches – where does she fit into the picture?
We envisaged this woman would create an outwardly veil of conservative restraint, but would probably be quite freaky underneath. The big trench coats throughout the collection were symbolic o the streaking/flashing concept we began with.

What caught my eye at Fashion Scout was the great attention to application that is present throughout the collection, can you detail some of the techniques you have used?
We used a lot of painting techniques inspired by well known artists. The overall aesthetic of the dogs was influenced by Warhol’s animal prints for example. We used screen printing, painted with palette knives and hand painting – with brushes, sponges and our actual hands.

What were the most time consuming elements to create?
The Backing Cloth Trench Coats took the longest. They are made from the fabric we used to protect the table during screen printing. We have had these fabrics for almost a year, and they are built up with layers of print, hand paint and our design sketches throughout that time.

What kind of person wears Typical Freaks?
They are usually quite confident, like colour, don’t mind a bit of attention and don’t take themselves too seriously.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday March 16th, 2015 6:52 pm

Categories ,AW15, ,Best in Show, ,Bonaramis, ,Fashion Scout, ,kawaii-punk, ,Kristel Pent, ,Louise Andersone, ,Lulu and the Lampshades, ,Seun Ade-Onojobi, ,Sonia Xiao, ,Typical Freaks

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