It is an undeniable truism of fashion that Basso & Brooke are the kings of prints. Fashionistas know very well the duo’s digitally printed textiles in bold colours that fuse hi-technological processes with elaborate hand-worked techniques. Yet prints were just one of the elements of the extraordinary Basso & Brooke retrospective show at the recent Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin. The design duo condensed four years of work and eight collections in this extravagant event that traced back through prints and outfits their career.
Founded in 2003 by the British Christopher Brooke, a Central Saint Martins fashion graduate, and Brazilian graphic designer Bruno Basso, the design duo dominated the catwalks during the last few years thanks to their bold graphics and prints and to outfits often characterised by outlandish shapes and silhouettes.
Throughout the years the duo took inspiration from various themes, from Salvador Dali to the ‘50s, from the ‘80s to Joan Mirò and architecture. In 2004, their powerful prints (featuring, believe it or not, a range of penises) won them the London’s Fashion Fringe Award and today they sell their collections in boutiques all over the world, from Paris and Milan to Tokyo. In 2006, the duo made a 100 Kg chandelier for the Swarovski Crystal Palace in Milan that featured multiple tiers of crystals each including a silk screen print of one of Basso and Brooke’s intricate and fantastical designs. One of the duo’s Autumn/Winter 2005 collection outfits was also acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of New York for their permanent collection.
For the Basso & Brooke retrospective show at Berlin Fashion Week, the duo worked closely with Namalee (see Monday’s post) and literally remixed their previous collections: the earth tones and rusty oranges from their Autumn 2005 collection were mixed with the Carnival of colours of the ‘Vanity Affair’ S/S 06, with its ‘50s prom dresses and ‘80s leggings featuring prints of lipsticks, roses and musical notes. Key pieces from their Autumn/Winter 2006 “New Discoveries”, such as jackets and leggings, were combined with outfits from the ‘Brave New World’ S/S 07 collection.
Stephen Jones’ geometric hats that accompanied both the Spring 08 collection, inspired by a combination of Joan Mirò’s playful abstractions and brilliant colours and Jackson Pollock’s stain-like brushes, and the Autumn 2008 collection that blended together the architecture of Norman Forster and Zaha Hadid with Oscar Niemeyer’s volumes, were paired with amazing combinations of prints and colours. Jackets were layered one on the other creating voluminous shapes in technicolour fabrics, that effect that Namalee would describe as “maxi-maximalist”.
Some of the outfits that resulted from these clashes would be perfect for Third Millennium geishas, others looked like modern versions of the garments worn decades ago at Paul Poiret’s Oriental-theme parties only in brighter shades of colours. The combination of various garments from the previous collections might not be for the fainthearted, but Basso & Brooke’s creations are anyway dedicated to a strong, glamorous and provocative woman with a great sense of humour and an extravagant sense of style, someone who likes to look like an 18th Century lady, but has also a passion for technology, the chaos theory and the future.
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