The last few weeks have been manic: a full-time contract directing for a BBC architecture series which has seen me shooting on location pretty much every day, nightly filming for a documentary I'm making about Iranian-born fashion designer Pierre Garroudi and preparing for the run-up to London and Paris fashion weeks... Somewhere in the middle of all that I made this short film for Alexandra Groover's Vauxhall Fashion Scout presentation.
Above: Model Basia peeks out through the ingenious organza visor hat. I loved these and would completely wear them myself. You all know how obsessed I've been with masks, balaclavas and pretty much anything that covers the face but these great head pieces do it in an altogether subtler way. And after Lady Gaga's MTV appearance in a red lace mask, that can only be a good thing.
The simplicity of the clothes were meant to be reflected in the treatment of the video. To be honest though, Alexandra and I only talked for the first time the night before the filming and the video had to be conceived in the half an hour or so while the model went through hair and make-up so anything other than a simple treatment would have been tricky to pull off! The piece was excellently edited by James Herbert who I hope will be one of my editors on the Pierre Garroudi documentary. Inspired by the eerie soundtrack from Stephen O'Malley, I was pleased with the range and pace of effects we used to help keep the interest across the looks without distracting from the minimal yet chic designs.
Above: My favourite piece from the collection... An organza LBD with a panelled hunchback/lizard profile paneled hood. Beautiful, wearable, adaptable yet highly original. Love it!
Below: When Alexandra and Yasu teamed the sleeveless lycra catsuits with capes, I suddenly felt hit by a monochrome update of 60s silhouettes...in a good way. Alexandra's love of circles, translucency and black also reminded me of my favourite womenswear from Comme des Garcons this summer...
Crew shots...starting with stylist Yasu Takehisa and hair stylist Taku Sugawara doing their thing and ending with some idiot called ed wearing one of Taku's horny hats.
Get another view of the presentation including another video on Hannah Kane's Vauxhall Fashion Scout Blog
Check out Alexandra's other work here.
And the work of talented stylist Yasu Takehisha here and here and here .
On the slate...
Yes: I have been squeezing in a few catwalk shows, presentations and parties too. My pick of the most creative things I've seen will be up here soonest...
Love the video, naive but affecting. Vauxhall fashion Scout is such a hot venue for emerging talent, my friend Emma Bell was showing there last year and it felt like a real hot house for folks on the cusp of notoriety...
ReplyDeleteNice work and you can get it! Post up more as and when MAW.
ReplyDeleteThanks Harry, glad you liked the video.
ReplyDeleteI agree: Vauxhall Fashion Scout is a very exciting place. Lots of young designers trying to negotiating the difficult transition from post-training creativity to potential commercial success. Thanks God that despite the recession, from the limited amount I saw, the designers here were still being more brave and less repressed by commercial demands than down at Somerset House.