Fashion often works best when a subtle execution of the familiar renders the ordinary desirable. For design partners Fiona Sinha and Aleksandar Stanic, this process of transition is less about creative spin doctoring and more to do with clever reinterpretation – a process that can take a utilitarian garment and transform it into something that speaks of luxury – without rendering it unrecognisable
Key to the Spring Summer 2007 silhouette is the composite nature of clothing that is performance rather than fashion related; items originally designed for speed, endurance and protection rather than simple decoration. Hence, strictly tailored power mesh dresses cinch the body in pattern pieces that echo the garb of a motocross enthusiast, while gently quilted cap sleeves and finely ruched shoulder blades lend definition and structure to a curvilinear silhouette
One of the important aspects is a reappraisal of the biker jacket, in both classic and contemporary guises, worn both as a symbol of counter culture and as a purely protective garment that contours the body – not for beauty’s sake but as a means to aid swift transit.
However, there is very little that is literal in the collection, and less still that can be lifted from a text book on subcultures. Much of the collection finds its roots in music, an aural moodboard that encompasses every genre from 50’s Teddy Boys to the grunge rock scene of Seattle in the early Nineties. But, if anything, the only evidence of these is in a feminised masculinity and a narrow streamlined silhouette – influences which are further clouded through the use of luxury fabrics.
And, just as the biker’s uniform is a primarily a means to an end, a rite of passage from A to B, so too does the collection move away from the automotive to focus on scaled down men’s suiting and classic outsider clothing: double lapelled tunics with oxidised studs are loosely based on oversized rockabilly jackets, while garment washed poplin shirts are rendered less aggressive with inside-out details – collars and buttons on the interior.
Colour is restrained: black, blue/black ivory and stone underpin the collection – diffusing any literal inspiration with such a subtle interpretation. Prints too, are knowingly obscure: a oversized monochrome polka dot is in fact a blurred motor cycle helmet, whereas an abstract blue motif is a detail from a pair of corduroy dungarees.
As ever, decoration is minimal, but geared for maximum impact: iridescent foil jerseys evoke a petroleum sheen while oversized Swarovski crystals bring a superhero element aimed at those for whom the love of speed is equally allied to flashy speedway suits and dazzling metallic bodywork.
But for the most part, this is a collection of tangible influences rendered opaque by low key interpretation. Familiar, yet unfamiliar, and all the more desirable for it.
By Andrew Tucker