INTRODUCTION
Niamh O’Connor, 22
Birmingham
Fashion
Birmingham Fashion looks at the work of the city’s new
designers. Daze of Decadence celebrates highlights
from their recent projects. Volume asks what inspires
their collections...
Collection: An Anthem of a Doomed Youth
My collection began with an interest in the WW1 frontline.
Reading Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Sebastian
Faulk’s, “Birdsong” and Sebastien Japrisot’s, “A Very Long
Engagement” inspired my work. I also looked at Man Ray and
Lee Miller for inspiration whilst using military inspired fabrics
and experimenting with the cut to produce exciting structure
and bold silhouettes.
Vicky Alvarez, 21
Collection: An Andalusian Dog
The collection was initially based on, ‘Un Chien Andalou’
(1929), a French/Spanish surrealist film with no narrative
or chronology and images of no rational explanation. The
illustrative prints for the fabric, the shapes and silhouettes
came from Surrealism’s element of surprise. The collection
is colourful, quirky and fun representing the odd and the
ugly with humour. Most of my inspiration came from film,
1930’s photomontage and the contemporary photography of
Alexander Apostol and Roger Ballen.
Simona Matuozzo, 21
Collection: An Instance of Impact
Having looked into impact and collision I placed heavy
emphasis on texture in my collection. I used a wide array of
fabrics, including paper for its creased quality, chunky wool
for its density and silk for its natural feel. I also played with
structure to create shapely silhouettes.
Lee Wright, 22
My collection looks at the garish excessive side to glamour. I
looked at the works of David LaChapelle, Marquis De Sade and
Barbie. Dolly Parton became my muse, with her famous body
shape and fake look. I am really interested in looking at things
that were once considered beautiful but are now considered
garish, trashy and even ugly.
Michelle Wetherell, 22
My collection is based on how lust, power and domination were
perceived in the past and how we view these words in modern
culture. The exploration of this theme led me to combine
bound lambs nappa leather and romantic silk chiffon ruffles in
powder blue, pale pinks and ivory. I am heavily influenced by
my environment, surroundings and other cultures, which help
fuel many of my concepts.
Nellie Hamid, 22
The main inspiration behind my final collection was ‘Crow’,
a collection of poems by Ted Hughes. Crow is considered to
be God’s ‘nightmare’, causing chaos and destruction, but
managing to survive. The attributes of Hughes’ Crow are what
I wanted to create within my collection. The scavenger, the
destroyer, the self important.
Sunita Nar, 21
The inspiration for my collection was cultural symbolism.
This inspired the manipulation of the fabric. The silhouette
explores ways in covering the body, but simultaneously
exposing it. I use jewellery to attract attention to certain parts
of the body and incorporated pleats represent the recurring
patterns of a culture.
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