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Canvas Print Calendar – February 2011

It’s not earth-shattering. And there’s a lot of ideas thrown into the mix; nu-wave boho, lady-like volume, flower power print, man-style tailoring. Who knows if the editors of the glossies will care for it as much as we do. But you know what? It’s the start of the year. It’s a time for optimism, when the new year’s resolutions can be made possible. Too many ideas can mean more choice, and there’s a lot to love about this range. Preen’s resort is a far cry from their repetitive body-hugging silhouettes of seasons past. Does this mean another attempt at a return to a more “feminine figure” – which didn’t quite lift off after Prada’s last winter, as I’m sure we had all hoped. Or is the rectangle taking over from the triangle? Well, whatever the outcome, we like what we see. We’ll just have to see whether this precursor to winter is a definite sign of shapes to come during fashion week.

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Canvas Print Calendar – January 2011

21st Century: Art In The First Decade explores art from the noughties. “Over the past decade, technological, political and environmental issues have had direct global effects reflected in contemporary art. This exhibition examines current directions in art practice and also the conditions for art and exhibition making in the 21st century”. A recurring theme of the exhibition is interaction. It used to be that galleries were a pristine, almost fragile environment, one that was met with silence and civility. But Dylan was right when he said the times, they are a-changing. With GoMA’s new exhibition, visitors can view YouTube clips, use touchscreen technology, ride a slippery slide (adults included). This change in artistic practice mirrors society’s global reach and reciprocity though technology. It’s about engaging the public and creating an interface between artist and voyeur. And if there’s anything to learn from the last decade, from this exhibition or from Facebook or from Apple, it’s to know you’re never alone.

* It seems important with these lists to insert as many clichés as possible in the copy too.

Michael Van Der Ham
Perhaps the “M” in Michael stands for mis-matched. Michael Van Der Ham designs are like a collage; an artistic clash of colour, pattern and texture. Or is it that “M” stands for mathematician, considering the chaotic and random nature in mixing different eras and fabrics. Eccentric, to say to the least. Van Der Ham’s spring/summer collection, his fourth ready-to-wear season, was a whimsy of prettiness where knits were paired with draped, vintage chiffons. It’s an expressive, demi-couture-like look (the clothes have a price tag to match) that he’s been spruiking since day dot. These days though the designer has learnt to refine the recycling process so that his fusion of fashion equals sophistication.

JS Lee
In contrast to Van Der Ham’s softness, JS Lee’s (the “J” stands for Jackie) look is one of complete androgyny. Her sharp lines are sleek and subtle; London’s take on minimalism. Another St. Martin’s alumni, fresh from presenting her graduate collection earlier this year, Lee has been tagged frequently as “one to watch”. Her clothes are meticulous, from concise layering to intentionally uneven hemlines. It’s as if Lee’s governed by three P’s of design: proportion, panelling, purity. Her clothes are available exclusively at Harrod’s, but given the NewGen financial support there’s every bit the chance it will translate into support from buyers. Especially if those hype words are to be believed.

Jordan Askill
Nice to see an Australian make an appearance on the list, even if it is Jordan Askill’s second NewGen coming. Considering his three-year tutelage with Dior, along with a design stint at Ksubi and costumes for Sydney Dance Company, there were always going to be expectations of something big. Especially considering creativity seems to be in the family genes. Askill’s installation and exhibition for Autumn/Winter will focus on his high concept, three-dimensional jewellery design which is often reminiscent of antique sculptures. Each piece is painstakingly detailed in design; a beautiful, visual, visceral relationship to space.

The chill of winter, with below celsius temperatures and blustery winds, wasn’t enough to keep the crowd away, which was surely driven in part by a chance meeting with the designers. The crowd was typical of a Weekday customer: young, trendy, good looking, camera in hand. Naturally replete in black, white, and denim. Eley Kishimoto’s clothes were a welcome relief of colour to an otherwise swell of sameness. Their playful crayon palette and calculated shapes signature of the label. Eley Kishimoto are seasoned when it comes to colluding with other brands, having previously partnered with footwear, furniture and leather good designers, so by now they have perfected a knack for mixing high-end with mass. So what can one expect from the collection?

Overall, the range was defined by a simplicity. Concentrating on knits pieces and print, the collection is about bringing together the best elements of both brands; fun and accessibility. For girls, it’s gamine silhouettes. Pretty dove blues and sunshine yellows formed silk dress with scalloped edges and block coloured basic tees. There were modish knits in raspberry tones and easy to wear tweed a-line skirts. For guys, washed out grey cords are to be worn with cosy cable knits jumpers and necker cube print sweaters, or with a nautical stripe in winter’s best of black and bottle green. A few accessories to boot, like the geometric print gym bag and scarf, and the EK Jam Factory “London-via-way-of-Scandinavia” look is complete.

Henrik Vibskov, he who has crafted a career based on anarchy and experiment, is taking ‘temporary’ on a road trip. Partnering with SPRSPACE in Amsterdam for its launch, 100 DAYS is a new direction for pop-up shopping. Vibskov’s fashion is on the move. Around the world. Existing for 100 days per city. A fusion between the designer’s cosmos of fashion and art, each space that supports the 100 DAYS itinerary will present the complete summer collection, the Last Pier Pandemonium Show, including one-offs, showpieces and styles edited out of the collection. Deconstructed and redesigned to fit each environment, in each city. It gives new meaning to that age-old pearl of widsdom,”build it and they will come”.

Like retailers and industry insiders, we too are keen to spot the next sign of talent. Though Sydney can lay claim to being home of fashion industry, with the bulk of media, sales and pr agencies and manufacturers scattered around the city, we like to look north, south and west. Fashion is no longer centralised to one or two major cities. Though competition is intense in any industry for graduate positions, designers these days seem to have the enviable advantage of social media. A couple of clicks and we, as voyeurs, are always in the know, despite a lack of physical presence. Opposed to earlier generations of designers, who may have toiled and studied and interned for years before considering a venture of self-employment, social media can make more than a positive impact in a young designer’s career. We spoke with recent RMIT graduate, Jo Templin, whose collection we caught eye of courtesy of six (though maybe two?) degrees of online separation, about studies and a succesful social media debut.

CANVAS: Jo, tell us about your graduate collection.

Jo Templin: I have just completed my BA in Fashion Design at RMIT and A Moment Lost is my graduate collection. It explores an ephemeral, dreamlike suspense, drawn from the atmosphere created in Irving Penn’s still life floral photography where flowers are captured right before the moment they decay.

Given this is a graduate collection and to a degree creativity is unrestrained, who are you designing for?

I design for a modern woman who has a classic, feminine taste.  It is imperative for me to design clothes that don’t age in their design, clothes that are timeless. I always seem to incorporate a feminine sense of ephemerality throughout my pieces, designing mostly in neutral colour palettes. This allows me to focus on the silhouette, synthesizing it though the delicate techniques of draping and pleating.

What are your plans post-study? Is starting your own label a strong consideration?

Working on my own label is definitely a part of how I want to extend my creative drive after my studies.  I have already started planning a small collection with another RMIT graduate, Jana O’Callaghan.  We share a similar design philosophy and style whilst one of Jana’s strong points is print dyeing and fabric manipulation. Though working in my own direction is important to me, I also intend to gain industry experience and grasp an understanding of how a business is run. I believe having a strong business understanding is just as important as being able to design a successful collection, so even though it will take some time to get a label up and running, I’m just as excited about learning from the people I look up to in the industry.

How has social media has affected your fashion? What was the public reaction to it, and has this given you the confidence in making the decision, even if it is further down the track, to start your own label.

In the lead up to the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week show (the first time my work has properly been seen by the public/media) I had no intentions whatsoever to start my own label. I figured that would be something I might possibly consider in 5 or more years time. I thought I would need that time to gain industry experience as an aid to starting my own label.  As much as I still think that it’s important, the confidence that social media and the public has given me is something I wasn’t expecting. The confidence has come from MSFW and the write-ups that came after that, from numerous stylists who have been borrowing my collection for shoots, and being asked to participate in certain fashion shows. Knowing that people have taken a sincere interest in my work is the most flattering part and definitely one of the reasons why I’m considering doing my own thing. I also feel like the attention the media has given certain people from RMIT would be wasted if we didn’t take up opportunities to design sooner rather than later. Starting a label later would be like starting fresh again and marketing ourselves to the public and media would take a lot of time and money. RMIT has allowed us to have this exposure in a protected environment. What a waste it would be to not utilise this leg up that has virtually been given to us!

Mjölk’s view of menswear is a little awkward, at times humorous, with a soft masculinity illustrative of fashion’s balance between machismo and bookishness. Each garment in their collection captures a sense of nostalgia, as if the clothes were telling a story. The history of industrial New York and Coney Island, Depression-era photography, aerial views of farmland, stained glass windows, and contemporary art all inspired the range of colors and shapes this season.

Trend-wise, craft is returning to menswear. Attention to detail has bee a slow evolution for the mass market designers, with flash favoured over finesse, yet it’s something Mjölk have been mastering from day dot. Mjölk are always very precise in their tailoring and this collection features plenty of texture: hand-finished leather detailing, antique leather buttons, and hand-knitted lambswool. And as usual, the accessories are as much as feature to the range as the garments. A full series of leather goods and hand-cobbled Italian shoes complete their spirit of schoolboy casual. It’s an attitude that combines unusual pieces with preppy in a playful Mjölk manner.

Presenting fashion as a moving image is hugely connected to the industry’s digital innovation. It’s as if fashion films are the marketing tool du jour. For designers, film is a perfect way to communicate creative thoughts in a practical, accessible way. Clearly luxury labels can afford to pull out all the stops in presenting a narrative, but sometimes simplicity is better suited to a short story.

Australian designer Carly Hunter and director Alex Goddard have teamed up for their own fashion fantasy. This isn’t the first time the two have worked together, with Goddard providing an ethereal backdrop to Hunter’s debut runway show earlier this year. Observations in Hibernations is a chilling escape to Hunter’s winter collection. Set against an icy backdrop in the Victorian ski resort of Lake Mountain, and to a score written by experimental musician Kane Ikin, the film is stark, austere, hinting at a sense of despair. Considering the Australian fashion industry only presents collections once a year, with the summer schedule the only one of note in the calendar year, Carly’s choice of presentation is a clever move to establish a connection with consumers before the collection hits the shops in early 2011.

It will be interesting to see how, and when, the rest of the local industry (read: the more commercial brands) will follow suit with video format. Goddard has already established his fondness for fashion, having also worked with Kirrily Johnston, so in 2011 his services just might be on the rise.

CANVAS: Did either of you, or both, know that fashion was going to be part of your future?
Draw In Light (Polly): As children we always liked dressing up and playing in a make believe land, we made beautiful camps, climbed trees to dangerous heights, ran sweet shops, sold apples on the side of the road… Of course on a Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock we watched The Clothes Show. I’m sure as children we watched Vivienne Westwood’s creations and dreamed of making such things, but over all I would say we are more interested in expressing creativity than straight forward fashion.

Graphic fashion is very much ‘on-trend’ right now.  Was it a conscious decision to study textile design, knowing London’s leading the way in digital print, or perhaps something a little more serendipitous?
It was a conscious decision for Harriet to study print as she wanted to learn a trade rather than do a “creative degree”. I studied print as I have always had a love affair with pattern and surface decoration. We both ended up making final fashion collections and showed our collections separately at graduate fashion week. Both collections used digital print and the knowledge of computer graphics. Our university collections are so different to what we do now.

Was it hard deciding on a name for the label, and does the name dictate the way you design?
Drawing in Light is the literal translation for photography. We chose this name because silk screen printing is literally drawing in light too. We mean draw in both senses of the word though. We are hippy at heart. The name certainly dictates how we design, we’re always looking at the ethereal world and nature to inspire our designs. We both have the words Draw In Light tattooed on our bodies.

Liberty’s picked you as one of 6 “Best of British” designers. Will they carry your collection for a season or a year, and did they take on the whole collection?

Liberty’s are now stocking us in our second season so we’ve already been selling with them for a year. As long as our sales figures are good I presume they will keep stocking us as they were the ones who discovered us. So far so good, we keep selling out and the orders keep growing. They don’t carry our whole collection, just cherry pick pieces.

Where can one buy Draw In Light?

At present we don’t have our own shop although we do sell online through our website! The bulk of our business is wholesale to other stores. We sell our clothes at Liberty of London, ASOS Market Place, Matches Spy Stores, Sid Concept Stores, C See boutique and Sameheads Berlin.

We all love a good story, and this one starts in The Big Apple, circa 2008. Christopher, a PR/marketing consultant, and Laurel, an Austin-expat, found themselves in conversation courtesy of some mutual friends. A few parties and a Bob Dylan concert later, and a dream was realised. Both were creative, designing and styling in college. When their idea of working together materialised they just had to make sure their needle and thread was sewing in the right direction. And it went straight to their heads! Cleverly named, more so because each hat is handmade with love by Laurel, I Love Factory are masters of costume design. It’s all rather fanciful and theatrical. Satin, taffetta, lace and delicate gold chains are perched atop, in a celebration of deco style. A mix of elegant and quirky that belies an avant appreciation for history and textiles. These hats aren’t just a fashion statement, they’re a sign of good taste, and definitely good times for the wearer.

With backgrounds varied in design disciplines, the label’s aesthetic is drawn from a shared love of pop culture. A muse, a film, a song. Secret Squirrel is based around what Bri and Andrew love and admire. Put it all together and what do you get? An expression of femininity that errs on the side of caution. Something simple, though it’s not as if they’re trying to connect the dots with minimalism, and cool. If you’re feeling a tough, quasi-rock’n'roll vibe, there’s a perfect leather shift to ease the mood. Or perhaps you’re channelling something a little more 60s collegiate? Peacoats, slouch pants, patched leggings and pretty lace dresses. No dictating, no ostentatious direction. Just pieces that are easy on the eye and easy to wear.

What can one expect from a heritage inspired collection? Think autumn countryside and plenty of layers. For women, it’s about channelling collegiate prepster staples with a boyish vibe. For guys, it’s more of a utilitarian, made-for-men ethos. Both are rich in harvest colours. Outerwear is quilted, while playful hints of plaid hide inside; knitwear is given volume with custom cable twists; while corduroys, cottons and leather are all reminiscent of British style.

The strength of this collection: uncomplicated fashion. These are simple, stylish basics at their best. And talk about affordable! Handsom are positioned in the same price/style bracket as maybe Malmö, or Dr. Denim. Fashion for an urban lifestyle, shall we say, where kitting the complete look is not going to hurt the hip pocket. Nor does it mean a compromise on quality. Natural fibres and thick woolen flannels are met with handmade tailoring. Handsom may have its heart in tradition but it’s a look with an eye on current trends. And a smart way for Australians to dress.

The duo’s debut winter collection, Ritual, dabbles with the occult. “She was once the epitome of purity but is now the force of destruction”. Though not a celebration of black or dark magic, there are a few symbolic gestures poke their nose into the collection. The clothing is at times a little pious, “hiding behind the high collar”, but with an energy that allows a freedom of movement (note the pants that hide under the guise of a skirt). Nothing is as it seems. The designer and stylist share a similar sync in expression, though Tan seems to bring more of a technical aspect to the working relationship. The central ‘character’ of Ritual comes entirely from Eng’s own imagination; she’s a fashionable experimentation in moral restraint.

Using the twelve staple handbag styles that have tentatively become trademark of the label, leather is given an exotic makeover. Colours mimic the rich, intense ochres of a desert landscapes and the dusty pinks of an evening sky. Leather straps are braided over the shoulder, while zipped wallets are embossed like crocodile skin; two-toned tote bags mix python print with an antique hide, and tassels delicately hang from a satchel clasp. Clutched or carried, these bags are designed for everyday use, for your own daily adventure. There is life in these bags. While the phenomenon of the ‘it’ bag has (fortunately) passed, one still might say these bags are covet-apple.