Trade fair: Nurturing new generation designers' creativity a focus at Texworld Evolution Paris

The Académie Internationale de Coupe de Paris (AICP) is presenting an exhibition of young designers' work in collaboration with exhibitors from Texworld Evolution Paris during the trade fair at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre this week, July 3 - 5.

Texworld Evolution Paris, Porte de Versailles, Paris
July 2023

The fabrics for the creative garments of the AICP students have been provided by a number of select exhibitors. 

The students' work, highlighting the know-how of tomorrow, were produced under the supervision of the academy's artistic directors and teachers, expressing their creativity in the making of the garments.

Meanwhile, the International Fashion Design et Business School ESMOD is setting up a unique space to highlight the digitalisation of fashion, particularly through the metaverse, during Texworld.

Visitors can discover the unique creations made by the "metawear" class on the Esmod programme. The garments on exhibition will be joined by their digital aliases and much more, while viewing a range of services linked to the school's junior enterprise.

Separately, there will be a Texpertise Sustainability Special Event showcasing young fashion designers of South Africa  on Monday July 3 at Texworld.  There will be a roundtable discussion on "Young sustainable fashion from South Africa" and a virtual fashion experience.

Trade Fair: Scoop to take place July 16 - 18 2023

The July edition of Scoop, an established directional boutique designer trade show in London, will take place July 16 - 18 2023 at West Olympia in Kensington for the first time. 

Scoop will be hosting the industry's best contemporary apparel, accessory, jewellery, and lifestyle labels from the UK and abroad. 

This season the brands that will be showcasing their new collections will include Aqua Blu, Aspiga, AUBADE, Bindu Resort, BR-DR, Devotion Twins, Maurizio Mykonos, MISS JUNE, oneseason, Pearl & Caviar, Poupette St Barth, Rose and Rose, Scarlett Poppies, Wolford, Polo Ralph Lauren, Schiesser, Promise, Concrete London, Queens of Archive, Louise Misha, Trebarrabi, Agua Bendita, Poupette St Barth, Louise Hendricks, Michino Paris, My Dorris, Loom London, Pret Pour Partir, Its 9pm, Hanro, Nice things, East Heritage, Seated Queen.

For full details and listing of exhibitors, click HERE.

Images courtesy of Scoop International.

Trade fair: Romanian designer brands return to Pure London July 16 - 18 2023

Romanian fashion, textiles, footwear and jewellery industries have been making their mark on the international fashion scene due to its rich history of high quality craftsmanship, and their knack for blending traditional and contemporary influences.  In recent years, the country's industries and designers have gained recognition for their innovation and workmanship, contributing immensely to the country's economy. 

HAMZA

Now Pure London, the trade fair for fashion to take place July 16-18 2023 at Olympia Kensington, will once again see a delegation of Romanian companies participating, under the auspices of the Romanian Contemporary Jewellery Association (FRDVA).

Organisers say the Romanian delegation consists of 24 fashion, footwear and jewellery brands, including Bizar Concept, Carolina D, CHIC, Nissa, Desire Avenue, Maoro, Concept Nature, Ginette, HAIART, Hamza, Inga Valerie, Fena, Leonard Collection, Les Waves, Mark-Off, Monarh, MYSIMPLICATED, Narru, Diana Cojocaru, Nissa, Paisi, Papucei, Colloris and Stada Boutique.   

HAIART from Romania

Ligia Stan President of the FRDVA says, “2015 was the first-year Romanian fashion designers attended (the) international fashion exhibition Pure London. And since then, it has been quite a journey!  

"The UK market has always been attractive for the Romanian fashion designers who have been exhibiting in Paris, New York, Dubai, Shanghai, Amsterdam and all around the world and it was about time they entered the UK market.  The UK market has a steady growth every year, provides consistent revenue and most important once you have managed to form a customer base, they will more than likely become loyal customers. Even since our first exhibition at Pure London we have had success because Romanian designers are very creative, have cutting edge design products, fair prices and consistency and Pure London was the perfect place to show this to the world.”

Representing the diversity of the Romanian fashion industry Pure London will host sustainable luxury fashion brand Hamza with a collection crafted from organic cotton utilizing sustainable production. Chic by Vali Cioban will present a dramatic collection with its roots in costume design for the Opera. 

LEE WAVES

HAIART is known for its an eye-catching jewellery collection made from brightly coloured leather, while Diana Cojocaru's porcelain jewellery is sculptural, inspired by nature and beautifully feminine.

Les Waves swimwear is dedicated to surfing, using mainly recycled materials and is "effortlessly cool."   

Designed and produced in the North-East of Romania, Papucei celebrates the region’s expertise in footwear with high quality shoes steeped in style. 

MONARH

Gloria Sandrucci, Event Director at Pure London says, “I am thrilled that Pure London continue to partner with The Romanian Contemporary Jewellery Association to showcase the creativity and expertise of Romanian design. The length of the partnership is testament to the talent and appeal that Romanian designs have in the UK market, and we are confident that July will be another successful show for them and our visiting buyers.”

All images from Pure London, to take place in Kensington Olympia in London, 16-18 July 2023.

Menswear: Jan-Jan Van Essche 's PRĀNA SS24 collection presented in Paris

Timeless clothing inspired by the worlds collective culture continues to be Antwerp designer Jan-Jan van Essche's ethos as evidenced once again in his latest PRĀNA SS24 collection,  an energetic wardrobe of newly developed shapes for the individual mind, searching alternative ways of progress.

This year, Antwerp designer Jan-Jan van Essche purposely decided to keep things intimate. Together with creative artisanal platform LUCENTEMENT, Jan-Jan van Essche held a confidential cocktail, in which he brought his closest surroundings, retailers, other designers and a select number of editors together to celebrate his SS24 collection.

Centered around the things that matter, JJVE brought show attendees back to the core essence of his work as an act to stay true to his values, not by following trends while moving at his own pace. 

Attendees could experience JJVE's latest collection in his showroom in the  Paris Marais district where clothes are made out of natural fibers in a range of natural dyes, and hung on his hand-made bamboo racks, while enjoying a subliminally crafted cocktail. 

JJVE brought together a range of disciplines in order to celebrate craftsmanship and artisanal fashion.

Carefully engineered garments, inviting a new flow, ready to align with the current and future challenges we all face collectively. Subtlety, modernity and elegance as a path to a new manifestation, while staying true to the Jan-Jan Van Essche silhouette.

The designer opts for uplifting mid tones combined with deep blacks and a natural Indigo silk screen print, developed in Kyoto, Japan. Apart from Indigo, other natural dyes such as Ume (Japanese plum), Kakishibu (persimmon fruit) and Gall nuts are used to diversify the colour palette.

Once again refined fabrics are sourced and skillfully developed in various regions in Japan, from small artisanal weaving mills. Various structures and textures from washi (paper fiber), silks, hemps, linens and cottons are blend together, resulting into a variety of cloths of extreme comfort and tactility.

A knitted series of lightweight and transparent linen/cotton tops, function as cooling under layers, while heavier jacquard sweaters isolate the body during the spring months. 

The PRĀNA wardrobe is an invitation to explore the luxury of comfort of the Jan-Jan Van Essche’s contemporary and breathable shapes.

Images courtesy of Jan-Jan van Essche

Menswear: Walter Van Beirendonck 's DAWLEETOO the Legendary Lost City collection

Belgian designer Walter Van Beirendonck's SS24 DAWLEETOO collection delved into his discovery of memories, history and art, that have filled his research notebook with drawings, collages and pictorial images, blurring the boundary between real and surreal, presented during Men’s Paris Fashion Week. 

The designer had taken inspiration from DAWLEETOO -  the Legendary Lost City - turning to AI to explore the boundaries of reality at the edge of the Sumatran jungles, 

“I love to research. That’s how I always start,” said Walter Van Beirendonck.

The designer juxtaposed between hard and soft materials, Playing with voluminous versus body-skimming silhouettes. Protection versus transparency. Monochromatic versus bi-colours: red/white, black/yellow, a shot of lime green and multi-colours even.

Note the oversized see-through blazers, vinyl raincoats, and bomber jackets with over-padded shoulders covering soft garments worn underneath. 

There are also large ruffles and other funky shapes to bemuse the audience.  A delightfully fun collection that challenges the consumer of today.

Photos courtesy of Walter Van Beirendonck.

Exhibition: REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion to be launched at Design Museum

REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion - sponsored by Alexander McQueen - will be the first major exhibition to tell the story of hundreds of fearless young designers who have transformed the fashion landscape, bringing together exuberant, rebellious and radical garments. 

It is billed as a landmark collaboration with the British Fashion Council (BFC) and will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the BFC’s NEWGEN programme, an initiative that supports the best emerging fashion design talent and aims to build global, high-end brands of the future.

Slated for September 16 2023 to February 11 2024, the show will coincide with London Fashion Week, featuring nearly 100 innovative fashion looks from ground-breaking debut and early collections, many of which have entered pop-culture history — and launched global design careers.

Highlights will include the swan dress controversially worn by Björk at the 2001 Oscars, Harry Styles’ Steven Stokey Daley outfit from his video for ‘Golden’ and a unique replica of Sam Smith's inflatable latex suit by HARRI from this year’s BRIT Awards.  Collections and work by JW Anderson, Wales Bonner, Erdem, Molly Goddard, Christopher Kane, Simone Rocha, Russell Sage, and many more will also be featured.  

These items will be shown alongside films, drawings, memorabilia and never-before-seen archive material from some of the most well-known contemporary UK-based designers.

The Design Museum announced that tickets are now on sale.

Exhibition: NOW Gallery presents Simone Brewster's bold designs

Designer, architect and visual artist Simone Brewster’s new design commission The Shape of Things is now open for viewing at the NOW Gallery in London’s Greenwich Peninsula, until September 24, 2023.

Simone Brewster with some of her paintings.

The exhibition presents new works alongside a selection of Simone’s most notable pieces, from paintings to furniture, jewellery and sculpture that investigate the hidden linguistics behind design that are inherently entwined with societal norms and ideas of race, gender, equality and more,  displaying Brewster’s signature bold style of both ethnic and architectural elements.

Tropical Noire, a series of vessels by Simone Brewster that reference the totemic statues and
traditional Greek vessels, as well as Sub Saharan African sculpture and colonial artefacts. 

As part of the African Diaspora, Brewster’s work marries Western and African visual languages, bridging the gap between these histories, and the material shapes and forms that are imbued with cultural history and tradition. These dialogues of heritage, memory, race, gender, tradition and form are embodied in some of the key centrepieces of the exhibition.

The Shape of Things encourages the viewers to reconsider their perception of everyday objects and the way we interact with them. 

As a part of the display, Brewster presents a chaise lounge titled Negress (shown above) which embodies a Modernist perspective on a deconstructed view of the Black female body, referencing and questioning the Primitivist and Cubist interpretation of the subject. The piece was acquired by the Smithsonian in 2022 and invites the viewer to re-examine their ways of interacting with the uncanny form of the chaise lounge.

In addition to this, Brewster will showcase a series of vessels, titled Tropical Noire, that reference the totemic statues and traditional Greek vessels, as well as Sub Saharan African sculpture and colonial artefacts. 

Brewster is particularly invested in the tensions between the objects, architectural spaces and the viewer, looking at the way race, gender, memory and personal histories shape our understanding of design.
The quietly political designs raise significant issues regarding race, gender and visibility in design and architecture spaces while celebrating Black British design and African heritage.

The jewellery from the exhibition is also available to purchase from early next week and the exhibition invites participants to create their own artworks by using stamps designed by Brewster that echo the bold shapes of the sculptural pieces in the exhibition.

Brewster's work has been exhibited at the British Embassy during the London 2012 Olympic Games as an example of British Design Talent; as well as at The Royal College of Art 175 Year Anniversary Exhibition; Collect at the Saatchi Gallery, amongst many other domestic and international exhibitions.

The collection clearly displays Brewster’s signature bold style of both ethnic and architectural elements which are also echoed across her paintings, drawings and jewellery showcased as a part of the exhibition.

All images by Charles Emerson