RibCage

Headonism, supported by the Royal Ascot and curated by Stephen Jones, is an initiative by the British Fashion Council to support emerging talent within millinery.  At London Fashion Week AW13, the five designers showcased were Aurora Ozma, Emma Yeo, William Chambers, Piers Atkinsom and Moody and Farrell.

A short video introducing the Headonism exhibition can be viewed here.

I spoke to some of the designers at Headonism:

Aurora Ozma is based in London but is originally from Newcastle.  This is her second collection, and her first time at Headonism.  She is inspired by her love of vintage clothes and hats, and is completely self-taught.  She uses materials such as nappa leather, Swarovski crystals and buckram coated with acrylic paint to achieve a texture that doesn’t look ‘too clean’.  She is also inspired by figures such as Marie-Antoinette.

According to the press release for this collection title ‘Backseam Bullet’, it draws upon influences such as the Belle-Epoque, tattered American-tan stockings, and girdles.

I really like the collection – the colours are neutral and really adaptable, and the styles are classic but still unique.  I love the glamour of the hats, and I think they’d add plenty of attitude to an outfit.

For more information, you can visit Aurora Ozma’s website.

Hellen studied at Central St Martins and is exhibiting at London Fashion Week for the second time.  She is based in her home country, the Netherlands.  Her fabrics are made from left-over organic cotton yarn which is recycled, woven by hand and heat-fused.  She feels that as a designer it is important to consider sustainability in fashion, and that consumers should be more conscious of their decisions when buying clothes.

Hellen also uses silicon coating to give a shiny, almost wet-look fabric.  From a distance it appears leathery (and contrasts very nicely with the textured yarn fabric); up close, brush strokes can be seen, and the silicon fabric shows that it is hand made and unique.  The two fabrics work very well together.

I love that the fabrics produced by this technique have a tweed pattern, but they also have a lot of interesting texture.  Although there are many different colours fused into one garment, the colours complement each other and the effect is not busy or discordant.

I liked the collection that Hellen had on show.  Her mannequin was very eye-catching, and her clothes really showed the possibilities for use of the fabrics she has created.  She has put them together in a way which really works, and the clothes are both artistic and functional.

Here is a video presentation of some of Hellen’s work:

Hellen van Rees A/W’13 from Hellen on Vimeo.

Hellen can be contacted at info@hellenvanrees.com

The 2nd show of the day was by Bora Aksu. I immediately fell in love with the invitation – a 1cm thick card invite, beautifully designed and cut.

The clothes were difficult to photograph – they were so shiny in the lights that most of them just glowed white on camera!  I did manage to get some short videos that show some shapes and colours, and also the start and end of the show.  I’ve compiled them as one video – you can watch below.

My thoughts:

The different textures in the show were amazing.  The first outfits had strings of pearls from top to bottom, shimmering in the light.  Smooth thin leather capes, rouched shoulders, and twisted fur were other textures used.  The fabrics and furs moved and flowed beautifully, especially the delicate transparent material that was finely pleated, and worn as a cape.  At the bottom of each of these capes was a thick contrasting band as a bottom border, in a different colour – in fact they immediately made me think of my Cora Kemperman skirt, which I was actually planning to wear tomorrow!

I really liked the colours, especially the pinks.  I liked the beige because of the pearls, and the purple looked great on the models.  It would only make me look jaundiced though!  The models’ hair was lovely – two buns high up on either side of the head, each bun made of small plaits.  Each model wore a thick lace forehead and eyebrow cover, which was intricately designed, but didn’t detract at all from the detail of the clothing.  Everything worked really well together and I definitely need some of these pieces in my wardrobe!