On this Pride weekend last , I organised a Fabulous Extravaganza of Food, Fashion and Colour at Shed London in Haggerston along with Florent Bidois, Carey Marvin and Monsterlune. Sue Kreitzman, aka the Colour Goddess, was brilliantly compering the fashion show and cheering on us.
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Alice Edwards, Laetitia Anne, Esme Loughrey, Endreita Elanor, Zophie Robinson, Bruna Ignatowska, Minerva Amiss, Lucia Gomes, Cinthya Machado
The most psychedelic girl gang by Anthony Lycett |
My work is always colourful, playful and theatrical. I mainly works with recycled material, reclaimed fabrics and unwanted toys.
Each outfit is a world in itself and has it his own independent concept rather than being part of a collection with a common theme. This "collection" is a more ready to wear" part of the work. A bit like Marc by Marc Jacobs or Karl by Karl Lagerfeld. Even if it still take courage to wear the pieces in a beige world, they are more practical than my extravagant costumes and allow people to get on with your everyday life with a touch of fabulousness. The aim was then to launch a wearable art clothing line.
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Minerva is wearing my egg dress and neckpiece, very popular pop art piece as the majority of people love eggs and it is a very recognisable shape and great combination of colours to use. The English breakfast as never been so glamourous spaced up by sequins! It is also an ironic hint to of fried eggs boobs like Sarah Lucas self portrait.
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| Inspired by Sarah Lucas Self Portrait with Fried Eggs 1996 |
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Alice Edwards wearing my
Jurassic Park jacket, I used a beige canvas base with studs that looked like an adventurous explorer jacket. The process was quite long as I had to cut in half very precisely the big size dinosaurs and drill holes in them and then stitch them on the jacket to create a kind of embossed landscape. A friend told me I was like Damien Hirst, with a dinosaur version of his cut in half cow sculpture!
Then I stitched the leaves of plastic palm tree around them to link the dinosaurs between them and recreate their natural habitat giving the feeling of a lush jungle. They also provide some camouflage so the game is more fair with the dinosaurs hunters!
Lucia saved the show as I had a lost minute drop out. Originally, she came with her friend Cynthia who was modelling for me just to see the show. When I asked her to model for me, she was surprised but exited another exotic beauty gave another dimension to my tribal pearly mermaid look.
During the preparation a very nice moment happened. I started to glue some gemstones on my face to create a continuity with my headpiece. At first I thought I will just do it around the eyes and then I started to expend. For a dramatic effect I felt I would look good to cover my entire face and create a kind of gemstones mask. The only problem is it was taking forever and the show was getting close. One of my model saw me struggling on my own and took a brush and started helping me gluing the rhinestones, then another girl followed and an other one. At the end it was a real team work and got down really quickly. It was like a beautiful ritual of sisterhood where women were coming together to adorn a face with crystals.
Alternative fashion show at SHED London july 2017 by Anne-Sophie Cochevelou
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By Richard Kaby
it was great to work with performers, Loulou created her own narrative through an improvised choreography. I just let her do her own interpretation of the coat and the way to present it, she has such a strong stage presence that she set up the tone of the show. |
I don't do fashion week or polished show room it was a bit of a renegade show. There is no backstage, no catwalk, no money, no professional models, but just the will to express yourself and make it happen, in a kind of punk attitude and energy. You don't wait for the opportunity, you just take it.
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| and into a drawing version by Sue Harding... cartoony & atemporal |
Also for this show, the idea is to be a meeting point between two creativities and she attempted to match the outfit with the style and the personality of the model who are all friends and creative people with their own imagery and aesthetic.
Like my previous show I was surrounded by positive energy and good will of people giving me there time to support my work. I kept thanking them but they also kept thanking me for the joyful and empowering experience. Is it extremely satisfying when you can be in this win win situation of getting out of every day life and feeling more confident and fabulous.
The show is not about being pretty. As a soundtrack for the catwalk (see the video) I choose "Why are you looking at me" by Grimes. The song as a particular resonance for me as, sometimes, when dressed up I feel like a freak show that people are staring at. I wanted the girls to own it, to defy the audience, to challenge it. The staring as an ambitious status, a mix between awe and fascination, by presenting the piece in a show obviously you want the audience to look at the design, but at the same time you question the unhealthy voyeurism of people who aggressively looking at people who dare to dress differently in their every day life.
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| When fashion meet dance and become a street performance by Anthony Lycett |
I get my models from everywhere, from friends from extra jobs, from when I used to work in night club, from previous projects, facebook connexions... I am happy that theses people from different world meet and come together to create a show.
