By Keng Yang Shuen,
The pandemic has no doubt changed not only the way fashion houses create their collections, but also how they showcase them. From Moschino working with Jim Henson to stage a marionette show to Burberry roping in the artist Anne Imhof to pull off an immersive, audience-less presentation in a forest, the approach for some brands in Spring/Summer 2021 has been to get a little help from some friends. As a nod to that, we teamed up with four Singapore creatives to spotlight some of this season’s key pieces.
BOTTEGA VENETA’S WOOL KNIT ACCESSORIES IN COLLABORATION WITH OBJECTS OF MASS DISTRACTION (OOMD)
“The Bottega Veneta Salon 01 collection was inspired by the idea of the domestic and how it evokes comfort and reassurance. Knitting is featured heavily across the clothing and accessories, expressing a kind of nostalgia and homespun quality. This tactility; reference to craft; and tension between soft and hard, humble craft and high-concept fashion resonate with what I do at OOMD... I wanted to create assemblages around the products – all sculptures in their own right – within sculptures so I combined stones (a material that I love and often use) with everyday items found around the house – flowerpots, bricks, even an old-school washing board and cooking pot. Elevating these mundane objects that reference simple domesticity alongside something luxurious felt true to OOMD and, I’d like to think, Bottega’s collection.”
Started by artist Charlene Kuah, Objects of Mass Distraction is a multidisciplinary label known for transforming found, natural objects such as stones and seashells into wearable, deeply tactile accessories as well as assemblages.
“The collection explores the duality of garments as protection and decoration. Working with pastel and ink on paper, I formatted a landscape to play up spatial perceptivity to express the idea of how what we experience externally affects us internally, and how our body language and what we choose to clothe ourselves in are the projected consequences. The inner monologue within oneself; dialogue with our intimate surroundings; then a display of open dialogue between people and spaces when coalesced as a community, all become a visual representation of identity and our shared values – even during these times when we’re mostly apart.”
Shenna Lou is a low-profile visual artist (she’s not on social media, but you can visit her website www.reply1811.com) who, by day, does styling and art direction for independent films. As someone with colour synaesthesia (a condition in which people associate specific colours with particular letters and numbers), she chooses to express herself largely through colour and her art, she says.
“I was drawn to this psychedelic, candy-coloured version of this signature handbag from Gucci for the sense of nostalgia and child-like innocence that it evokes, and thus wanted to construct a frame to encase it and capture its spirit of effervescence. To create the frame, I worked specifically with materials like cellophane that were synonymous with presents and gift stores such as Precious Thots during my childhood in the ’90s and ’00s. Using DIY craft techniques such as smocking, I created voluminous forms with the cellophane before spray-painting them in colours like mint and salmon pink to complement that on the bag... I love how Gucci deconstructs vintage iconography, creating something new yet lived- in – almost as if the object has a past life. Pandan Dreams similarly seeks to study, deconstruct and repurpose the codes of material culture that anchors our romanticised memories. In this instance, I hope to invite the viewer to relive the experience of unboxing a present on a special occasion.”
Prior to starting Pandan Dreams, a studio that creates sculptural props for commercial platforms such as fashion advertorials and window displays, Sheryll Goh had several stints in fashion, including interning at Molly Goddard. At the heart of her art is a deep fascination with the curious tension that exists between the concepts of luxury, taste and kitsch.
HERMES’ PERSPECTIVE CAVALIERE SADDLE BAG IN COLLABORATION WITH KUUKKA
“What stood out the most to us while looking at Hermes’ Spring/Summer 2021 collection was the use of robust materials with structured forms and lines. Likewise, for this new bag, its most distinctive feature would be the curve that accentuates its structured form. To us, it creates a sense of movement and a balance between softness and hardness. We decided to highlight the curves in this arrangement by featuring the hardy finish of tree branches (hard) and natural bends (soft) – all found and foraged from the streets – creating movement and evoking the imagery of carrying the bag.”
Kuukka is a floral design studio started by Fae Lai and Sherlene Seow last year. Its focus: combining flora and fauna with objects – even those perceived of little value – to bring out the natural beauty inherent in all of them. Recently, the outfit also launched its collection of vases – all designed by the duo – that can be bought on their own or with an arrangement.
This article first appeared in the April 2021 Community edition of FEMALE