In yesterday's post we looked at works of art in which bright colours were combined with translucent and transparent effects.
In fashion there is a young designer who came up last year with a collection in which she experimented with translucence and light refraction - London-based Lucy Baxter.
In her S/S 19 collection, entitled "BeDazzled" and showcased last year during Kingston University's MA 2018 Fashion Show (and then selected to show at Wuhan Fashion Week in China), Baxter combined themes such as science and technology with the traditional intrecciato technique.
She then proceeded to create a series of designs such as coatdresses and jackets in which she wove hand-cut metallic and neon strips and combined them with fringe detailing.
The effect worked particularly well on the runway since, when models moved in ombré or multi-coloured woven fringe dresses or skirts and jackets characterised by boxy shapes, the lights refracted upon them creating shimmering effects.
The idea for this collection came from the rich colours and textiles of traditional Peruvian dresses which Baxter reinvented (rather than appropriated) in a modern key.
The colours and intrecciato patterns of Peruvian costumes and textiles were therefore recreated employing synthetic materials that allowed Baxter to create designs that wouldn't look out of place in a sci-fi film featuring futuristic flappers and glamorous cyborgs.
Baxter has so far worked in London and Milan, gaining experience at brands and fashion houses such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Brioni and the Max Mara Group. She recently applied to the ITS competition in Trieste and, while the finalists haven't been announced yet as the submission stage is still open, you can bet that we will definitely hear more about her in future.
Baxter's experiments call to mind similar woven effects created in other industries and fields such as interior design. For quite a few years now Marni has for example produced woven interior design objects, usually showcased during Milan's Salone del Mobile.
For the next Milan Design Week (from 9th to 14th April), Marni will launch a new collection entitled "Marni Moon Walk" and made by a community of Colombian artisans that have been collaborating with the brand for a few years (in 2012 Marni produced a collection of chairs made in Colombia by ex-prisoners as part of an initiative to readjust to social and working life).
Among the new designs there are formica clad wooden and metal coffee tables in the shape of spaceships, aliens and animals, but also woven coloured PVC and metal accessories such as petite sofas, rocking chairs and chaise longues made using the intrecciato technique.
The more you look at them, the more you wonder what it would look like to use Marni's interior design pieces for a photoshoot with Baxter's designs or if the designer's plastic strip woven constructions could be employed also for interior design pieces.
Image credits for this post
Images Lucy Baxter Collection:
Photographer @brianrankin
Model @liza.rdqueen
Hair and Makeup @candicem_makeup
Set Designer @nicosado
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