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| Photography by Ezzidin Alwan |
Edward. Talk me
through your Spring Summer collection.
It’s always a story
about a woman. This season I chose Alice de Janze; she was quite infamous
during the Twenties, so that’s where the silhouette comes from. During her
lifetime she moved over to Kenya (that’s where the tartan comes from) – the Maasai
tribe used to trade with the Scots who paid them in the fabric. I was keen to
use the fabric in a spring summer collection, on pieces that weren’t just
suitable for winter. There’s also a Prince of Wales check that’s been worked
into an eveningwear section.
You’ve talked a lot
about the fabric, how important is it that they are highest quality?
If you’re aiming for a
high-end market it’s really important, this season I wanted the fabrics to be
of an amazing quality, but also the finish. Al the bindings and seams are done
by hand, so there’s a crisp finish that creates a more couture-like and luxe
finish.
I’ve noticed all this
beautiful lacing. Was that inspired by the Maasai too?
Yes, and I like the
way that, from a distance the shoelaces act more like some kind of
embellishment. When it’s photographed it looks incredible!
What’s your design
process?
I tend to find images,
read books, look at film – then I edit all the info into a carefully selected
book. There might only be two images but they work perfectly together, it’s a
case of blending the images together. Then I work directly from that onto a
dummy, I don’t draw. I work in 3D, because that’s what clothes are. It allows
me to develop garments organically, and, for me, that’s the most important
thing.
Tell me more what else
you’ve been up to during fashion week…I’ve heard rumours of lots of trouble?
I decided to take
elements of the collection straight to the buyers and press, rather than
waiting for them to come to me. On Saturday I put a model in one of the
statement dresses, hooked up with all these pipes filled with ink that burst
when she pressed a button. She walked into the venue – where everyone was
already taking photos – and all this black ink started to bleed through the
fabric. Security did some over, but I don’t think I got into too much trouble!
On Sunday I shot a mini look-book outside, that obviously attracted a lot of
attention.
So is that the future
of fashion?
Well fashion always
used to be about guerrilla activities and I think that, at the moment it’s so
heavily based on commercialism and I can see it backfiring. As a small designer
you can’t compete with the established brands – that’s a dodgy situation, so I’d
rather be involved with events and processes that you can’t recreate.
Text: Victoria Loomes