From Canvas to Catwalk. World Famous Works of Art Printed onto Leggings.

The notion of wearable art is not new and quite often we find in museum and gallery shops the choice of gifts and souvenirs are limited to Tee shirts, shopping bags and scarfs albeit the prints taken from masterpieces are incorporated in their collections.

 

Now a company based in East Sussex in the UK has joined forces with The National Gallery in London in a project that sees images from some of the world’s greatest paintings feature on its range of leggings.

Model Simone Wells wearing A Still Life of Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase’ by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder.

Following an approach from The National Gallery, Wild Bangarang has introduced fashion lines for leggings that feature the masterpieces ‘Sunflowers’ and ‘A Wheatfield, with Cypresses’ by Vincent van Gogh and ‘A Still Life of Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase’ by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder. 

The leggings are being sold on-line and soon at The National Gallery, which houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900.

Adam Jay at Wild Bangarang HQ

Wild Bangarang was set up by entrepreneurs Adam Jay and David Pearson in 2014 and specialises in printed clothing. To date, the company’s success has been built on designs based on pop culture such as World of Warcraft and Power Rangers.

Adam, a photographer, started a ‘superhero creations’ Facebook page several years ago and it engaged with a huge online community, achieving 950,000 likes. Adam and David both felt that the quality and variety of apparel servicing the ‘geek’ market was lacking and identified a business opportunity there.

“Looking at the athleisure market and the projected growth, we couldn't find a home-grown business focusing on this sector so we decided that could be us! Wild Bangarang was started to reach that market window. Initially with a handful of designers, we set off on our venture.”

Now in year two, the business has turned over £350,000 which gave the company the encouragement to see the potential for growing the market sector.

Adam said: “We pride ourselves on dedication and a personal touch to each of our garments. This is attractive to brands like The National Gallery which has strong guidelines and wants to protect its image.

“We always work carefully on samples to make sure the colours and design are authentic and true to the brand, which makes our product the best on the market for printed leggings.

“The National Gallery designs were a challenge for us as we couldn’t edit a famous piece of art just to fit the leg shape,” said Adam.

The pair have plans to expand their range further to meet demand, travelling all over the world to fashion, comic and licensing events to showcase Wild Bangarang’s range.  So watch this space!

Optimistic Sunny colours for Spring!

New fabrics in sunny brights for SS-2015 on display for the global textile industry
at the Premiere Vision Pluriel trade fair in Paris this week.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for My Fashion Connect.

In Paris this week, at the Premiere Vision international trade fair for clothing textiles and accessories where the global fashion industry go to each season to catch the latest must-know trends and developments, bright colours were presented as the key colours for Spring Summer 2015, especially yellows and greens in all hues and shades in the spectrum.  More on PV and its associated concurrent trade shows next week.



Back in London, we don't have to wait till next year to enjoy the optimistic colours while facing up to the dismal weather.

Danish brand Ilse Jacobsen have launched their new rain boots made in natural rubber in a selection of bright colours to add a dose of sunshine to our rainwear wardrobe.  They are available in three leg lengths - Knee-high, calf and ankle.



The handmade boots are well constructed and designed with intricate details such as a lining made of cotton viscose fleece to provide comfort, and performance-enhancing details to help combat the elements.  The natural rubber used for these boots are sourced from single-estate Malaysian rubber trees.  They have heat-insulated soles made of lightweight EVA.

Meanwhile at the National Gallery in London, two of Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh's celebrated Sunflowers oil-paintings are currently on show until April 27, providing much-needed optimistic boost for our spiritual enhancement.

A selection of merchandise at the London National Gallery to coincide with the Van Gogh Sunflowers exhibition.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for My Fashion Connect.

National Gallery brings warmth to London with exhibition of Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Little Sun lamps provide support for third world country.

For many of us here in the UK, we are suffering from a case of water-fatigue with all the rain we have been getting in the past two months (and more is predicted for days ahead) and we are missing the sun.

London’s National Gallery has gratefully come to the rescue to provide warmth for our spirit at least, by staging a special exhibition of two of Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” oil-on-canvas paintings - which is on until April 27, and admission is free.

A selection of sourvenirs on sale at the National Gallery shop.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnect

To view the various shades of the yellow hue through these still-life masterpieces displayed side by side is a rare and unique experience,  as this is the first time in 65 years to have such an opportunity. One of these is the National Gallery’s own, the other is on loan from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

While this current installation revives our interest in the great masters, surely with the current fashion trend being faunt and fauna, bouquets and flowers, they provide inspiration for those working in design, as proven by Italian luxury designer brand Dolce & Gabbana which showed a Alta Moda (Haute Couture) collection of floral-decorated creations including one dress with a replication of Van Gogh Sunflowers, at the Spring/Summer 2014 couture shows in Milan a few days ago.

But for the everyday enjoyment of common folks, the Van Gogh masterpieces have inspired The East India Company whose tea master, Lalith Lenadora has created special herbal tea blends by taking inspiration from some of National Gallery’s masterpieces, including the Sunflowers.  Lalith carefully selected paintings that engaged him and resonated with his sensibilities, according to a representative at a recent tea-tasting event.  Lailith had spent many hours working closely with The National Gallery, studying and pondering over the paintings, to bring their essence to life in blends of fine teas, flowers and fruits. 

For inspiration, Lalith had selected two of Van Gogh’s paintings.  One is the Sunflower, and the other is A Wheatfield, with Cypresses, which is also a National Gallery treasure.

The tea inspired by Sunflowers features a blend of Chamomile, Rose Buds and Orange Petals.  Like the paintings, the tea blend gives a calming effect, and also infused with a refreshing fruity note.

The other tea in the collection had been inspired by Claude Oscar-Monet’s, The Water-Lily Pond and his Thames below Westminster.   All available in the National Gallery shop in London.

German artist Olafur Eliasson with Little Sun

Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson

Now for all sun worshipers, a project called Little Sun has been developed by the artist Olafur Eliasson and engineer Frederik Ottesen with the purpose of helping people in off-grid communities.

Little Sun is a high-quality solar-powered lamp, which is rechargeable and can be used the whole evening after 5 hours in the sun.  

Little Sun at Tate Modern, London.

Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson

Little Sun is not a charity but a short-term project aimed at donating lamps to areas without electricity (known as 'off-grid' areas), but the focus on the longer-term is to build profitable local businesses that distribute Little Sun light. Little Sun currently has distribution in seven African countries: Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Senegal, Ethiopia, and South Africa, as well as in the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan.  

If you are interested in buying Little Sun and thus help to support the 3rd world, click HERE to go their website.