Unconventional materials and fashion- Wearable art?
Since technology nowadays has been evolving more rapidly than ever before designers of all kinds try to find ways to incorporate technology and its by products in their collections. Lately, we’ve seen a surge of unconventional materials making their way everywhere for designers to make outstanding and at the same wearable pieces of art. Some unconventional materials are zippers, dvds, safety pins and ANYTHING you think can be manipulated in such a way to apply it on a piece of clothing.
Some designers who have embraced this trend and have pushed the boundaries for us to follow are Junya Wantanabe who applied zippers in his 2005 collection and made eccentric yet wearable pieces and Iris Van Herpen who holds the first place as far as I am concerned shouldn’t go unnoticed. She’s my all- time favorite.
If you are a fan of Project Runway there are particular challenges where designers have to use unconventional materials, they’re pushed to think outside the box. They’re being sent to junk yards, grocery stores and any kind of store and they have to grab in very little time materials they think they can work with to create exceptional, surreal designs. You’ll be amazed of the designs they can come up. One thought of using vacuum bags and made a dress. Who would’ve thought to make a dress out of that! Well, she did!!! And she was the winner of that challenge.
If you look online for unconventional materials and how that is related to fashion you’ll be stunned by what you’ll find such as condoms and hair, yes, human hair, tea bags and the list is infinite. It all takes imagination. Condoms lately, have been making their way into prom nights as women have always looked into ways to look tacky or not, original!!! Oh Yes, you’ve heard right, prom dresses. I know, it’s disgusting to think of them on you and more disgusting to touch them but hey, that’s what fashion and art mean! Let me tell you though, I like what I see! You could hardly see they’re made of condoms. The designs are fabulous! Very inventive!
Even the world famous Met Museum in NYC has recently organized and hosted the first of its kind exhibition and gala called ManusXS Machina to showcase how technology influences fashion designers and what they can create; Fashion in an Age of Technology where fashion designers had to really think outside the box. The results are nothing but stunning, extraordinary and the list goes on and on. Just look at the pictures that follow:
‘The Costume Institute’s spring 2016 exhibition explores how fashion designers are reconciling the handmade and the machine-made in the creation of haute couture and avant-garde ready-to-wear’
I came across on my online research for such a designer on the island and it’s no other than Christina Louca. She’s a designer who is known for always pushing the envelope and was criticized by some for using unconventional materials 6 years ago at her first fashion show here. She used cable wires, multicolour wires and in her most recent work, dvds!!! At school for one of her projects where she had to use unconventional materials she again was very innovative by making a mini version of a dress made of period pads!!! Christina received a phone call from her best friend to express her disdain immediately after she had post the photo.
Let me introduce you to her and show you how they all started.
Christina’s quest of fashion design started when she was very little and doing what most kids her age back then did; dressed up and stood up in front of the mirror. Christina was always exposed to art and fashion. Her dad was a house painter and since her mother was a distinguished seamstress Christina would wrap herself up with various left over fabrics and stand in front of the mirror and play for hours trying a multitude of color and fabric combinations and designs such as knots. Watching her dad mixing colors and trying different techniques to find the exact color for the client also played a role that Christina back then didn’t think of it so much. She was just playing with her dad’s paints and her mother client’s fabrics. Their house was a fairy playground for her, her haven and at the same time her inspiration surrounded by so many stimuli. She would lose herself in it.
Off to college in New York City, her biggest dream came true, in a way. Living and working there is her biggest goal. However, her parents had discouraged her in pursuing her dream of becoming a marine biologist, so she became an English Teacher. In her graduate school she excelled in the Art classes. In her first project she did with a help of a friend a 3D design of the NYC skyscrapers which she so marvels, out of cardboard boxes she found in the store she was working,. Again, she didn’t pursue it though, didn’t pay attention to it since she was so brainwashed by her parents to study something she can make some money out it and have a steady job.
After ten years in NYC circumstances forced her to come back. It was the fastest move and the most regretful in her life. However, in the midst of her darkness and denial here in Cyprus she met her Mentor and her best friend who has always steered Christina in the right direction and changed her into becoming a better person and a positive thinker. This person has been having the most influence on her evolving into the person she is now and continues to grow and learn as successful people do.
After a dark period in her life, she started working as a P.R and not as a fashion designer since she didn’t have the proper knowledge. Christina felt this force, this passion of drawing nonstop!!!! when she didn’t even draw a single outfit in her life before. How was that possible?
As a PR she worked for a very talented Haute Couture and a fashion designer , Sofia Alexander who back then was working on her collection using unconventional materials…….. zippers. Immediately, Christina was intrigued!!!!!! This is what keeps Christina going, Anything weird and unconventional she is in, she wants to give it a try.
Christina always dreamed big and so in 2011 she made her debut in the West End of London and she got the full affirmation she was waiting for, SHE’S GOT TALENT!!!
Upon her return to Cyprus two more shows followed and always for a good cause. You see, Christina will never do a fashion show only for fun or to exhibit her collection but to help the animals, who is a very vocal advocate and the needy.
However, there was something missing: Proper knowledge in order to be taken seriously and that’s when she she registered at a college (evening classes)since she works full time to make ends meet to make her dream a reality to be her own boss as a fashion designer. Let me tell you, whoever attempted this knows how difficult it is. But that didn’t deter Christina. On the contrary, Christina worked fiercely to make it happen. At school, she excelled in her classes because of her original ideas of using unconventional materials. She was known to surprise teachers by pushing the boundaries and finding ways to use unconventional materials such as cable wires, multicolour wires, zippers, table mats, period pads, cds and last but not least car tires and car mats.
The list is an ever ending for her. You can see a sparkle in her eye once she discovers something that she thinks it can be used on an outfit. All her designs are head turning pieces due to the use of these and many more unconventional materials. She never stops learning and exploring, always finding new materials you wouldn’t even think that someone would use to make an outfit, but Christina does. If you see all her designs you will understand why.
Christina never takes NO for an answer. If you dare say: ‘No, this can’t be used, I don’t see a way of making it happen’ you’ll be taken for a ride. So watch out for her as you’ll see more of her unconventional designs. She’s known to make wearable art as they call it in fashion terms. One thing is for sure, Christina has guts and determination.
