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Saturday, 15 February 2014

SPONSOR| Mannequino at Fashion Scout London





For the AW14 season, Fashion Scout have been joined by brand Mannequino. Designer duo Arash Kaynama and Kelly Sant have created flat pack mannequins- something that is extremely useful during the busy fashion week. Light as a feather and easy to carry and store, these mannequins are what every designer needs. They're simple to move and recreate, affordable, environmentally friendly and to top it all off, look both modern and stylish. We spoke to Kelly Sant, one half on the ingenious duo, to get some extra information on the brand.

In your own words, explain Mannequino and your role in the company.

Mannequino is a new concept for fashion designers. It’s super light weight body allows designers to elevate their collections anywhere in the world affordably again and again, just by packing them flat with their collections. Dealing with heavy and easily damaged mannequins is a well-known pain - Mannequino is a painkiller!

Arash and myself designed the concept together, we're directors and designers, which is a tough mix, but it gives us a distinct edge when it comes to innovating.

What sets the Mannequino apart from normal mannequins?

Mannequino is manufactured in the UK, this is almost a unique situation, generally mannequin production happens in the far east. We wanted to design something disruptive to the market, something evolutionary and something that represents the way fashion now is being sold- a totally new level of versatility. Our products are engineered from flat sheets of plastic, which means they can flat packed and sent in the post anywhere in the world at the drop of the hat, which is a massive advantage for fashion designers.

What is your favourite feature of Mannequino?
Right now the lighting. You can create exciting installations with them using our smart lighting systems for shows, in-store and pop-up shops. Mannequinos are internally lit with a wireless LED lighting system which will change colour at your command, drawing passers-by - as if by magic!

What’s it like for you to be working with Fashion Scout this season? Anything about this season you’re really looking forward to?

It's our first season working with Fashion Scout, so we're excited to be representing the hottest fashion designers at one of the UK's largest fashion showcases for emerging and established design talent. Everything about this season is something to look forward to for us! We're proud to be representing future design talents, as Mannequino is about the future thinking and being different.

Interview by Josh Walker (@josh_walker_) 
Images by Hannah McGee (@HannahMcG3e), taken on the fashion forward LumixGM1 (@PanasonicUK).