…Oh ye! who have your eye-balls vexed and tired,
Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea;
Oh ye! whose ears are dinned with uproar rude,
Or fed too much with cloying melody
Sit ye near some old cavern’s mouth, and brood
Until ye start, as if the sea-nymphs choired!
- John Keats (1817) ‘On The Sea’
This prêt-à-porter collection explored the period of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. The SS13 collection is inspired by the feelings of romance and nostalgia. Nowadays, a lot of people acutely experience a lack of heritage. Some always dream about their favourite periods in history. Had they a time machine, they would travel and live at there and then, as for them its golden age. Historic background and culture, literature and art in particular, are the sources of my inspiration. The collection is meant to remind us of the flourishing Belle Époque in culture, science and economy and to evoke tender sentiments for the time. I am planning to concentrate on travelling and resort culture that were born by the Industrial Revolution and the notion of glamour. I am infused by the phenomenon of tourism that was due to the luxurious mixture of aristocracy and middle class in the 19th century society, democratisation of leisure, change in the attitude to travelling, mobility and bathing in the Sun being some features of it.
The collection is associated with the feelings of comfort, leisure and the seaside. Collection looks order is thought to be a sequence of travelling episodes. Six looks are six stages (1st and 5th Seaside activities, 2nd Tourist day look at Riviera, 3rd – Mobility wear during travelling, 4th – Clothing for dolce far niente, 6th and 7th – Evening promenade). The concept focuses on combining aircrafts, air balloons, travelling luggage with Edwardian fashion reference (corsetry, swimwear and tailoring). I would like my collection to be contemporary, gentle, playful and ironic with delicate colours predominant.
The silhouettes are initially taken from pattern cutting manipulations of balloons and aircrafts. I am playing with reinventing traditional techniques with contemporary cut. I intend to blend loose shapes with corset and tailoring details. I am going to use stripes, corset bones and to experiment with them (directions, rhythm of stripes). Colours are inspired by the seaside culture, candies, delicious ice creams and sorbets. I aim to focus on sophisticated finishing which will be made with delicate trims, tassels and ribbons. I am planning to create digital prints based on my drawings with seaside panoramas, mountains, blue trains, cases, parasols; tennis, skating equipment and sweets (gelato, candy floss, shavings, caramels). Digital print is meant to be used in several collection looks as well as silk lining and show styling accessories like scarves.
