Inspired by High Couture Fashion of the 1990s - 2000 era, when designers began borrowing various elements from history and incorporating them in their own designs in modern and edgy ways. The catwalk became a canvas for fantasy and avant garde imagination- underwear became acceptable on the runway as outerwear, notably with Gaultier's cone-bra worn by Madonna. With the rise of designers like Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, and Paul Gaultier, the high fashion world became an ephemeral platform for impractical and otherworldly creations. Compared to previous era's when a mere few centimetres of raised hemline could cause a stir, designers now had to stretch their imaginations to cause shock and gossip.
This era truly paved the way for fashion as we know it today, where "everything has been done" in previously in history, and designers are forced to look to the past and rely on their imaginations to come up with new combinations of refreshing the old.
This steely blue-grey "High Fashion" ensemble was created using the French traditional en-toile method: of laying fabric pieces directly on the model and hand-sewing to create one-of-a-kind couture versus using pattern pieces. Many of the fabrics start out as remnant "scraps" from designer gown offcuts, and I allow myself to react to their shape and colour, and how they sit on the doll when deciding on a design direction. I sew in a highly organic way, allowing the fabrics, textures and colours to dictate the direction of my design along the way, relying on aesthetics and meticulous design choices. Pieces are pinned, sewn, measured, re-measured, sewn, and adjusted until they fit the model perfectly, in this case the elegant and spindly bodies of the Popovy dolls.
Organza and beaded netting blouse, lace-up corset, ruffled panties with tiny silk bows, miniature stocking garters complete with tiny gold buckles, fine nylon hose with silk tassels and ribbon rosette's from Mokuba in Paris.
