RWB for In Visible Ink
In their first collection, Anna and Luke of Romance Was Born, began to instinctively develop a repertoire of techniques for idiosyncratic textile designs. It remains integral to their work – to the realisation of their ideas, and the spectacular vision for which they have become renowned – and is inseparable from their garment design.
Anna and Luke seem to draw inspiration from anything and everything, and have a talent for assembling unlikely elements to create garments that are wittily reminiscent, nostalgic and emblematic, yet somehow distinct and new. From 2005 to today, RWB have offset the advanced technology of customised digital printing with ‘old-fashioned’ crafts such as appliqué and crochet.
Collaboration has become a significant aspect of Romance Was Born’s work; numerous Australian artists have been invited to create textiles and accessories for their collections, including Patrick Doherty, Esme Timbery and – perhaps most notably – Del Kathryn Barton.
The two Romance Was Born garments collected for In Visible Ink are products of this latter partnership – a silk-lined cape and a dress once worn by RWB advocate, Cate Blanchett. The fabrics are beautiful and extraordinary in their own right. Anna and Luke use them sensitively, even lovingly, attending to details with care.
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23.03.2010
MBP for In Visible Ink
It has become part of Susan and Chantal’s concept for a portable fashion house, which they are steadily assembling over the seasons in their Fitzroy studio. The MATERIALBYPRODUCT curtain gowns are another example of a multi-purpose product that may function in a domestic setting one day, and be worn the next.
The designers seem to view all kinds of materials – the luxurious, the ordinary and the kitsch – as potential resources. When investigating a new possibility, it is the practice of the studio to re-examine and build upon their systems, in order to develop the method (or learn the technique) that best suits the material.
Their extraordinary leatherwork involves far more cutting, fringing, puncturing and weaving than it does typical tailoring. And, of course, there is nothing more apt to embellish skin than a tattoo – these delicate illustrations by Pheobe Ross will age and change with the leather.
See it up close to find the M, B and P in the artwork ...
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22.03.2010
Scene-stealer
A quick break from LMFF to admire our racks, freshly stocked. There's Limedrop and Strange & Strange, there's Romance Was Born and Lui Hon... There's High Tea, there's Hua... And there's Ra, the black fuzz, streaking through the final photo.
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21.03.2010
Limedrop for In Visible Ink
The first impression is always a strong one during buying appointments at the Limedrop studio. Their seasonal collections are colourfully cohesive, and communicate playful narratives.
Clea and Nathan develop patterns and motifs to enliven their themes. Typically, they will screenprint their own bold and graphic designs. Recently, Limedrop have begun to explore digital technology as a means to produce a ‘photo-real’ style of print, most notably the beautiful cloud print developed in 2009.
While becoming more common, digital printing remains an expensive option and when used with luxurious fabrics such as pure silks and wools, every thread is precious.
The two neckpieces submitted for In Visible Ink are handmade using saved scraps of Limedrop’s cloud print (in merino wool) and their new ‘ocean spray’ print in silk. The lightness and whimsy of the fabrics inspire these light and whimsical forms.
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20.03.2010
Alexi Freeman for In Visible Ink
Before becoming a fashion designer, Alexi Freeman trained and exhibited as a fine artist - primarily a printmaker.
The suite of silk blouses collected for In Visible Ink represent his transition, or the overlap; it was not an abandonment of one skill for the other but a step towards merging interests.
Alexi has since produced five seasonal collections, with his latest (for A/W 10) currently in the final stages of production. The application of striking prints, alternatively bold and delicate, continues to be a distinctive feature of his work.
Often Alexi begins with a single motif, which he then skilfully manipulates – exploring repetition, layering and juxtaposition, variations in scale and variations in colour. His ability to take apart these elements, or build upon them exponentially, results in a set of garments that are cleverly related but nicely varied.
Alexi’s printing methods are diverse, and still include hands-on, immediate techniques such as foil printing and dry point etching. The blouses (on display at Milly Sleeping) are an example of the latter, whereby the organic designs were hand-drawn directly into the printing plate.
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19.03.2010
