Chances are that if you have seen amazing props in fashion photo shoots or, while passing in front of Selfridges’ windows in London, you were inexplicably attracted by some incredible displays, or ended up being mesmerised by the sets and props surrounding or worn by Patrick Wolf (anybody remember a biplane-shirt?) at one of his gigs, then you are already familiar with Fred Butler’s work. The 28-year-old London-based props stylist and bespoke accessories designer has so far worked with many well-known art directors, photographers and stylists and has made props for international magazines and music gigs.
Fred recently launched her accessory line consisting of one-off pieces of art for the body that magically combine the esprit de géométrie with the esprit de finesse. Fascinated by the possibilities of layering and folding paper in the origami style, Fred employed this theme in different creations for her Autumn/Winter 2008-09 collection that features iridescent colours and joyous triangles, exuberant spirals and circles and sensorial geometrical patterns. Some of her designs are labyrinths in which it’s visually easy to get lost.
Even when you see Fred’s accessories on dummies, you realise that her designs are intensely alive, rich, powerful, sharp and daring. 
Three-dimensionality has an important role in Fred’s range of accessories: the angles of her Perspex pyramid headdress vibrate casting shadows on the body; the folds and pleats of her fabric crowns and belts form contrasting volumes while colours create a striking phantasmagoric effect. A few accessories have a strange optical quality; in her sculptural neckpieces, black and white integrate with other colours building a chaotic crescendo; different hues exalt each other in her deer-shaped satin earmuffs or swan-shaped body pieces while elytra-like sequins in different sizes form cascades of colours on tops in pale nuances. Fred’s accessories are not just ornaments for the body, they are joyous and wearable architectures dedicated to people who are not overwhelmed by the encounter with forms, materials and colours.
Her Spring/Summer 09 collection is inspired by slightly less harsh colours and features more spectacular headpieces, accessories and fabric items for the body. Though her work is based on continuous and spontaneous experimentation with materials, it’s card, fabric and a bit of plastic that she often turns to, while her favourite creative weapon is her glue gun. Fred Butler's magic designs have the power of keeping a constant fashion enemy - poverty of creativity - at bay, and, above all, they are body-enhancing armours capable of defending who wears them from the world’s banality.
If you want to know more about Fred you can read my interview with her on Zoot Magazine, Issue #12, Autumn/Winter 2008-09.
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