“Today we are so surrounded by waste. For me I really like when the material has a story. It is like animating something that is currently inanimate: if you put it in a new context it always has this spirit! Especially for our times, we have so much waste and we need to do something about it.”
Renata Brenha is a designer of precision and feeling. Her debut collection, showcasing at London Fashion Week, puts to work this meticulous and formulated explorations of her Latin American heritage, her fascination with Mexico and a pre-occupation with material and its consumption.
Her clothes attempt to catch a spirit, an attitude, of the communities she explores: utilising the silhouette and work with cloth to translate these nuances. There is always a translation – its important the way I work with fabric: pleating, painting, reimagining – but I always want to capture that spirit.
I love performance, and clothes have that ritualistic space. You are in that moment, you are that person.
Each item of her 16 look collection holds an anecdote – I like to feel them as individuals! – which is retold through their cut. The tales range from the Grandma dress, made with studio scraps from the pattern of a dress her grandmother decreed as perfect; the coat-trouser coagulation – there is a Mexican saying “a courageous woman is someone who knows how to wear her trousers”; to her tights top, a reworked version of the improvised thermals her mother created to keep Renata warm in the winter months of her hometown just outside Sao Paolo.
Workwear is weaved throughout the collection – when you travel to Mexico to see communities you see workwear half-references through their natural dress. Traditional clothing with something intuitive about putting things together. I love canvas, it’s something that really tells the passage of time. There is always a story behind it: when you put it behind a female body the story changes that I find so interesting too.
While saved for the presentation itself, headdresses are to be made by a gardener, Luciano. Initially Renata wanted the headdresses to be more dangerous, more testing (initially thinking of cactus) but after looking at images by Claudia Andujar, and the ritualistic energy from her feather headdresses, Luciano felt he could create something similar with moss.
The moss comes together with braids in the hair intertwining, much like the fabric, cuts and reference points.
Renata’s heavy referencing of Mexico came about from the desire to visit a place that she could relate to through the Spanish language, but also look from a distance. Mexico felt like home but also really fresh – a little bit of space but still a connection. She found a lot of affinities with her own home of Latin America: both holding relationships with mysticism and improvisation.
A colour palette deeply entrenched in blacks, whites and blues give clarity and corners to her garments: the smocking, the hand painting, the deliberate reworking. While her shapes are anthropomorphic, and her vision is cut from a refreshing cloth, Renata has just begun her brand – here’s to her future fables of fabric.
For their Spring Summer 2019 campaign, Italian fashion house Prada tackles the concept of duality in a video series shot and directed by Will Vanderperre featuring looks from both their women’s and men’s SS19 runway. The series was inspired by classic Hollywood movies and is approached as such.
It features the likes of top models Freja Beha Erichsen, Gigi Hadid, Maine Inga, Liu Wen and Anok Yai re-named after Prada’s supporting cast of accessories: respectively Sybille, Sidone, Margit, Odette and Belle inspired by iconic female cinematic icons. These women are also accompanied by three male characters played by models Daan Duez, Jonas Gloer and Tae Min. The campaign’s direction is a play on an iconic genre of cinematography: everything is familiar, but not too much, all holds a double meaning. Movie star?or model? Menswear? or womenswear? This series is created to guarantee you a few double-takes upon viewing. And like any other movie, it’s accompanied by posters directed by Benoit Debie which hints at the imagery and narrative of the films leaving one curious enough to explore the reflections and refractions of the collection. The campaign boasts seven short films, which will be released throughout January and February on Prada.
Italian designer Antonio Marras dug deep into the unexpected for the inspiration behind his Spring Summer 2019 collection title The Fault of The Mistral. Arriving to the show a few minutes early, the first familiar attribute was the sound of Nina Simone’s music playing from the outside as the models capped their final rehearsal. As the curtains opened and the audience was let in, what was to be discovered was a series of door jams aligned along the runway with sacks tied atop each one. This show was slightly different from all the others, it carried a message that came across as personal. Marras’ stimuli behind the collection was based on his wife’s recollection of an Ethiopian princess she once met. Princess Romanework, eldest daughter of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia who was captured during the battle against the Italian army and forced to live on the exile island of Asinara.
The collection embodied a tropical woman dressed in shades of military green gowns, coats and sweaters. Flashes of floral prints, white, beige and lace appear throughout intervals. This was not just clothing being presented at a show, this was a story being told, some models wore headpieces which mimicked flower wreaths and at the end of the show there was a performance. An emotional bevy of men in underwear with shoes tied around their necks, rushing together to salute one another and then ripping the sacks tied atop the door jams, where a flow of sand emptied upon them. This was not just a show, it was a carefully orchestrated re-enactment of poetry. The only note to be taken is that since this was a story of an Ethiopian princess, it would have been ideal for the casting to better reflect that. If making an ode to Ethiopian princesses, go all out, hairstyling and everything. However the designer is definitely one to keep an eye on as he is one who chooses to go a little bit of an extra mile further.
London-based collective Aphid brings sharp, sculptural tailoring and avant-garde design to the contemporary scene. With a moody, darker feel, it’s all about embracing the strange and unfamiliar. Here the brand gives Twin an exclusive insight into their designs and thought process behind the AW18 collection.
Our AW18 collection is based around the idea of ‘RITUALS: Ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.’ We love the notion of dressing for an occasion and the heavily debated topic of what ‘dressing-up’ looks like for a contemporary woman. This led us to a fascination with ceremonial dressing and Japanese men’s Hakama trousers, worn during ancient tea ceremonies. Dressing for ceremony; what it means and how it’s achieved for both men and women was an initial focal point for us. These tailored, oversized and heavily pleated ceremonial trousers really excited us, and we began deconstructing and re-invisioning these and other forms of traditional dress, how layering is used and the nature of formal dressing has evolved. The notion of suiting and ceremony was also at play in our thought process with the choice of grid print and surface texture. The linear formations playing with the hybrid/ intertwined idea of a pinstripe and the ritually raked ridges of a zen garden.
Colour-wise we wanted to combine the reflective and contemplative sensation that a dark, monochrome palette evokes with vivid, energising shades associated with celebratory clothing – a duality that we frequently return to. Colour isn’t something that we naturally lean towards and as such we won’t ever be a brand that takes colour lightly – for us these infusions of saturated brights punctuate the collection bring an interesting tension, allowing our constant canvas of monochrome tones to be refreshed and invigorated with a new perspective each season.
See more of the sketches for Aphid’s AW18 collection below.
Founded by life-long friends Angelina and Julia the RTW brand, The Nude London exudes a whimsical femininity with a collection that consists of feather-light chiffon dresses, printed blouses and sharp tailoring. We catch up with the friends-come-business partners to chat about launching a new label and the power of female friendship.
Tell us how you first started?
We have known each other since childhood and have always been inspired by femininity and beautiful dresses. Each one of us has lived all over the world: Tokyo, London, Paris, Moscow and have drawn inspiration from there. Eventually, we wanted to create that effortlessly cool feminine look with our brand.
How would you describe your aesthetic?
Very girly and elegant with a sexy twist.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Travelling and the amazing inspiring women we meet along the way.
Is there anyone you have in mind when designing?
Our heroine is the modern day woman who is not afraid to express herself, she loves being a woman and dressing in a feminine way.
Who would you love to dress?
Vanessa Paradis and Lily-Rose Depp.
Which is your favourite piece, or pieces, from the collection?
We particularly love the Queen Mary dress, but this season we also branched out into outerwear and the coats are just so cool and comfortable!
Calling all wanderlusters, the leather experts at PRITCH have now launched their latest line, PRITCH Adventures. The new range offers luxe travel wear, consisting of oversized sweatshirts and classic track pants in a colour palette of black, white, olive, baby blue, sapphire blue and deep red. Like the RTW PRITCH London range, this line has thoughtful detailing, which sees the finest leather combined with super-cosy jersey that is perfect for your winter getaways. Perfect for glam, post-holiday lounging.
Tell us about your background.
I was born in Moscow and raised in between Saint Petersburg, Germany, Malta and United Kingdom. At the age of 5 I started drawing and by the age of 7 I started to do fashion sketches. By the age of 14 I figured that I want to start my own fashion brand. Since then I never looked back.
You specialise in leather, what is it about this material that you love?
I feel like leather is underestimated as a material. Not enough is done, possibilities are endless. It is also a very challenging material to work with, that requires attention to detail. You only have one chance with it, as you can not stitch it twice.
How would you describe your brand aesthetic?
Embodying today’s duality between elegance and edge. PRITCH London’s distinctive signature is transformation and the art of combining various leathers and luxurious textures in one piece. Each PRITCH London garment is designed with multi-functionality and transformation in mind, easily layered or transformed with removable elements. Inspiration behind is contrasts and edges.
Do you have a favourite piece from the collection?
I am in love with the Hybrid Bomber from our current AW16 collection for a casual day out or a fancy evening with friends. And my from now on “must travel in” piece is the “Jet-setter travel set” from our newest “Pritch Adventures” travel wear line.
You have launched PRITCH Adventures, what inspired this?
My constant adventures around the world, passion for travelling and lack of comfortable and sophisticated pieces to wear while I travel.
What do you have coming up for 2017?
I’m not even sure where to start. I have collaborations with well-known and up and coming artists, new partnerships, a mens capsule collection, kids travel wear and so much more!
Goodhood opened in East London back in 2007 and have been growing as a brand and store space ever since. This September sees the launch of their biggest expansion yet, moving their flagship to a two-storey, 3000 sq feet store in the heart of Shoreditch. Co-founders Kyle Stewart and Jo Sindle have a ‘curational’ style of buying, rooted in design, quality and creativity, making the concept store, along with Goods by Goodhood (the store’s in-house collection of tees, tops, stickers, bags and homeware), the first name that comes to mind when you think luxury casualwear.
We caught up with both Kyle and Jo to find out what the big move means to them, what we can expect and of course, what the future holds for Goodhood…
When did you realise that you had outgrown the original store? I think last Christmas. It was when our stock room started to expand, up the stairs, in to our office, in to our studio and on to our desks.
Apart from size and location, how will it differ from Coronet Street store? All the new additions will be what makes this store different from our beloved Coronet street; the cafe, the kidswear collections, an expanded print section, an exhibition space, a dedicated cosmetic zone, more from the brands you already love and some exciting new ones.
Did you work with a designer? Nope. It’s all been done in-house by the Goodhood founders and team.
Was there any other London areas in mind for the new flagship? Or is it all about East London? We would only ever consider being in East London as a home. However watch this space for future developments!
Tell us about the Goodhood Cafe. What tasty treats can we expect? We’ve gone in to partnership with Brett Redman, owner and chef of Elliot’s, so will be providing some world class coffee, complimented by open sarnies, seasonal produce and an exclusive GH menu.
Goodhood has become a leader in terms of luxury casualwear. What do you look for when it comes to the designers and brands you stock? We are interested in selling clothes, we’re not so interested in fashion or trends, obviously we do feel it, but we like to see garments that are rooted in culture, and the history of clothing, workwear etc.
Are there plans for stores in other locations? What’s next for Goodhood? We will be working on expanding our own product range in the future. Our dream is to open stores in LA, Tokyo, and Ibiza.
The new store is located at 151 Curtain Road, EC2A 3QE and is open for business.
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