Collaboration: one of the greatest learnings of how to remain hopeful in a future uncertain. A vital tenet for Tekla since the start, the value of visions from a plethora of spectrums has given a freedom of expression from a broad playing field to the brand. Working with photographer Laura Coulson, whose intuitive imagery of the everyday holds an exceptional magic, a series of images exploring families and friends with those innate ties that can often never be expressed… but maybe captured on film.
Speaking to Tekla, we talk about knowledge exchange, capturing a particular emotion and finding a common language.
What role does collaboration play with Tekla and your own creative expression?
We like to collaborate with a variety of people whose creative work we find interesting, whether it is with a photographer or a designer, the collaboration itself is a process. You need to find a common language. It is always interesting to get together with other creatives and see things through their eyes to exchange experience and knowledge.
What first attracted you to the photography of Laura Coulson?
I’ve known Laura for ten years now and have been following her works ever since she started taking pictures. She has her unique way of seeing the world, which she projects into her creations. Her ability to see the potential for strong photography in any ordinary situation and capture a particular emotion, makes her images very honest.
What do you think she managed to capture in these images she created with you?
Laura’s idea was to capture the loving spirit of spending time as a family and friends, which we’ve shot during the late summer in London parks. I’ve found that this time has brought everything back to basics and made us refocus our attention on celebrating happiness in the here and now. Appreciating the little things we might have forgotten to enjoy, and I think Laura achieved that abundantly.
How are these emotions captured intrinsic to what you stand for?
I think the honesty and emotions which Laura encapsulates in her works is something we can relate to when it comes to the values in Tekla.
Following their collaboration with visual artist Joshua Vides last July , FENDI once again taps the LA- based creative in collaboration for a spree spirited Californian vibe for its Prefall 2020 collection design by creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi. For the collection Vides used his signature contemporary black and white marker style and interprets this in the form of womenswear, menswear, kid’s ready-to-wear and accessories pieces. The artist created 3D trompe-l’oeil effect by mapping the seams and edges of a range of urban and resort styles , while also giving his twist on a vibrant, whimsical floral allover motif & reworking the FENDI Stamps and the iconic FF logo.
The collection carries a wide variety of interchangeable separates including nylon windbreaker, embossed cycling shorts, satin blousons, embossed leather outerwear, sweatshirts, denim pants compact knits, printed denim pants , to even luxurious featherweight fur coats and cardigans and perforated leather jackets, all given that special splash of a tropical Californian vibe. For the accessory department , the collection did not disappoint as it includes a new version of the house’s bestseller Fendirama Women’s Sunglasses, featuring a silver metal frame and a graphic interpretation of the FENDI Stamps on the silver mirror lenses and also a new Men’s Botanical Fendi Sunglasses with an extra light white shield with the FF logo mirrored. You can find the collection in Fendi Boutiques, on Fendi.com or from July 1st at the California Sky Pop-Up, Harrods Men’s Piazza.
What’s in a name. Namely, what’s in an Emma Charles Lady Gwen?
The young London designer has been crafting her signature style for the last three years, one of the key brands focussing on the move from the millennial IT bag to the Generation X preference for the sweet spot price point – a bag that delivers big on directional design and construction, at a price that satisfies predominant freelance pockets while not scrimping on the wow factor or the work/play/bar/dinner expectations a bag needs to fulfil.
Her signature style, the Lady Gwen, is like the prettiest fortune cookie you ever saw. Served in a seasonal selection of colours, always on the discretionary scale, the unique shape gives Emma the head start over her competitors for something that is immediately recognisable to its creator.
With a slew of bag brands popping up, as audiences look for the underground name they can pioneer, rather than the monster fashion house design they can wield, Emma is on to a good thing: with an intimate range of luxury stockists, we called it first.
Her clothing range, lesser known, is no less worthy of a second look. Drapery and embellishment is key, but much like her bags, it is done in a delicate manner: a plume of marabou feathering on the shoulders of a black blazer; a constellation of modern studs on a bag.
Emma’s colour palette is always delightful, matching discretionary tones with shots of zesty greens or blushing pinks.
As she works to expand her handbag offering, Emma shows she is still a designer finding her feet. Formulas have occurred in seasons that have not made the cut for the next. This is good to have this time for exploration – as when it works, like it has with Lady Gwen, it magically begins to fall into place.
Wanting an example of sharp style and well tested design? Come for the Lady Gwen and stay for the capsule collection separates.
The world is a scary place at the moment. And this season, fashion has taken notice. Designers have been either making open political statements through their clothing or indulging in an escapist mode by presenting bold garments which express their need to run away to distant lands. British-Canadian designer Edeline Lee is very aware of it, and that’s exactly why her Spring Summer 2020 collection was a light, brightly coloured burst of joy.
This season, the designer wanted to inject a bit of optimism in her clothing, as past season’s fall-winter 2019 presentation had such a tough subject matter (she had been inspired by professor Mary Beard’s feminist manifesto, Women & Power, where Lee made the case for the runway as soapbox).
“I feel like we need a bit of optimism right now and so I felt like I needed something light which could contrast the darkness of everything that’s been going on at the moment,” she said.
Following up from her experiential presentation of last season, this time Lee collaborated with Sharon Horgan, the Irish actress and writer who starred and co-wrote Catastrophe and created HBO’s Divorce, for a presentation which verged on the line between theatre and runway.
“Sharon and I are friends but not only that. I am such a big fan of her work, her voice and the way she talks about the human condition is so acute and real and to the skin,” she says.
And the clothes she presented exuded exactly the same vibe, they were real clothes for real women, which featured simple silhouettes – ranging from a series of white shirts and brightly coloured midi dresses in a palette of greens, blues and reds, to a series of brightly coloured striped numbers, to finally, a series of dresses made in her signature jacquard.
“In the show in a way what we’re trying to do is juxtapose the lightness of the clothes to these real-life moments which are acted out by a series of actresses, who sort of stop and get distracted by real-life passing by and then they stop and go back to their intimate realities,” she says. “It’s sort of like a play on a juxtaposition of these different versions of life.”
Sitting in one spot over the course of 15 minutes you would be able to experience every skit presented by the actresses almost as if eavesdropping on conversations of everyday life.
Lee’s collaboration was a refreshing take on a runway experience – and it definitely helped her in trying to represent who her woman really is and making people understand who she’s making her clothes for and the audience she’s making it for. Collaborations like these are a fun way to get the point across and are also more memorable experiences in a month where editors see an enormous quantity of shows.
This week Italian contemporary gallery Gallerie Delle Prigioni opens it doors to a new exhibition entitle “ When you dance you make me happy ft selected artworks from the Luciano Benetton Collection”. The exhibition , set to open tomorrow at the gallery’s location in Treviso has been curated by Nicolas Vamvouklis, and will include themes which focus along the lines of the human body.
“ The starting point of the exhibition is the tension between inner and outer worlds, public and private realms interpreted through the idea of the body as a shell that is both a home and a prison,” reads the press release. Throughout the exhibit the themes then extend to the collective dimension and observe the performative roles the body plays in social gatherings of celebration, mourning or protest.
The collection include pieces from names like Helmut Lang, Maripol , Nick Cave, Hermann Nitsch and other gems from Italian Billionaire Luciano Benetton’s private collection. The exhibition entrance is entirely free and will run until November 10th. For more information visit Imago Mundi Art.
This month London based luxury retailer Matches Fashion teamed up with Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta, for the launch of some exclusive pieces from the brand’s AW19 collection at their base at 5 Carlos Place in London.
“The Fall 2019 collection is a statement of new intentions, a new point of view, it’s about building a wardrobe with great pieces to wear. I wanted amid of contemporary and classic, new technologies with a new immediacy, clothes that could be as refined as they were relevant,” commented Bottega Veneta Creative Director Daniel Lee.
Some of the women’s items in the exclusive collection include an Intrecciate Nappa rectangular clutch, a Spazzalato cross body, the brand’s quilted pumps , satin coats, cashmere skirts and wool knit dresses.
“We are very excite to partner with Bottega Veneta on these exclusive AW19 pieces. The luxurious aesthetic of the brand resonates with our costumers and we know they will love the collection that incorporates key runway styles in the beautiful cream and chocolate colourways,” said Fashion Buying Director Natalie Kingham.
Yesterday French fashion house Paco Rabanne in partnership with London based luxury retailer Matches Fashion launched an exclusive silvery of the house’s 1969 anniversary bag and AW19 pre collection with an installation at Matches’ space at 5 Carlos Place.
The Paco Robanne 1969 anniversary bag bridges past and present through iconic design and artisanal technique. Assembled by hand, the bag is the quintessential expression of Paco Rabanne – avant garde when created 50 years ago and timelessly modern today.
Image by Cat Garcia
The installation is an immersive experience which welcomes customers into Paco Rabanne’s world through two channels. One as a chainmail cube that focuses on luminosity and curiosity, pulling stimuli for inspiration from the 1969 bag collection and it’s unique aspects. The other is a twist to the AW19 collection that curates an environment with films representing the landscapes of David de Beyter and digital tutorials on LED screens that explain how to wear pieces from the collection. Both installation act as booths for photos where costumers are free to interact with the products and the curated environment that accompanies them.
The 1969 anniversary collection will be available exclusively at MATCHESFASHION.COM for the month of June and the installation at 5 Carlos Place will run until the 26th of June.
This past week has seen the release of Italian fashion house Prada’s latest Linea Rossa campaign featuring their signature Linea Rossa logo with a bit of a twist. The campaign shot and directed by Daniel Sannwald features the duo of models Lineisy Monero and Jun Young who are chic in the Linea Rossa looks from Prada’s SS19 collection. The pieces, all made from innovative, futuristic fabrics are the epitome of ultra-functional minimalism and futuristic sportswear combined with a sprinkle of modern elegance. It includes men’s, women’s and unisex garments that creates slim yet sharp silhouettes that gives the wearer an extra edge for respective occasions. The campaign itself is a technoid take on the classic technique of chronophotography, capturing multiple frames of a motion and combining them in single images. To shop Prada’s Linea Rossa, visit Prada.
Last season designers Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo launched the womenswear branch to their minimalistic Italian label Sunnei in commitment to their vision of building a worldwide community amongst the brand’s fan base. For FW19 , the brand invited guests to an airy liberty-styled white room in Milan called Palazzo del Ghiaccio (translates to ice palace) which was previously used for ice skating.
The location itself accurately represented the brand’s aesthetic, it was large and simple but procured an admirable level of architecture. The seating arrangement dispersed the fashion hierarchy by not featuring second or third rows but a simple maze of seats which placed each guest at a reasonable distance from the passageways. This was quite unlike what any other brand would do which was exactly the brand’s major message of the season. They presented a collection which made you note that they were not designers who follow guidelines or go off trends but rather create their own. With inspiration from personal experiences throughout high school and college, the duo crafted a collection of women’s and menswear featuring flared trousers, bumpster pants, knit sweaters and blouses, and pastel colored pieces. It included standout pieces such as a sweater with a pixelated meadow and cloud landscape from the Windows 98 OS background along with interesting versions of their classic boots and sneakers. The 41-look collection was very ‘Sunnei.’ Each look contained the brand’s special ingredient of maximal minimalism with small grains of nostalgia carefully sprinkled. Visit Sunnei for more.
This weekend Italian house Prada invited guests for the official presentation of their Fall/Winter 2019 Men’s collection at their signature show space in Milan. Within the area, a spacious arena seating arrangement filled with eager Prada enthusiasts and a black sponge-like floor lit up by 120 oversized light bulbs. In the background played an elegant tune of harps and violins which might have lead one into expecting a collection of tailored traditional pieces. However, what occurred next was quite the contrary. It first began with the change of music, a mix of hard rock beats aptly reset the mood for the collection which emerged.
It was a slight change of tone in creative director Miuccia Prada’s feminist voice. Behind it, was the inspiration from the birth of famous gothic tale Frankenstein, which was created by author Mary Godwin in the 17th century during a competition with her husband in attempt to see who could create the scariest story. Needless to say, Godwin claimed her victory, but released her novel anonymously due to the fact that female novelists were not highly encouraged at the time. This was what drove the designer’s influence this season, her fascination with the grunge-like ‘otherness’ and vulnerability of society’s’ outcasts, wether minorities or monsters. The collection featured symbols from the tale such as shirts and sweaters with lightning bolts circling towards the heart (an upgrade to the Prada hit shirt from last season), menswear suiting with triple belting, studded dresses, backpacks, floral printed dresses, and winter hats filled with wool lining — which was also included as shoulder pads on sweaters. It told an enticing story of twisted romance, femininity and vulnerability while also including military references. Miuccia’s Prada’s agility to switch diversify the tone behind her inspiration is exactly the quality which is destined to keep the brand alive and relevant. See more at Prada.
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