I’m in love… with wearable art.
That is, I’m in love with fashion that is so creative it blurs the lines between it and art. It’s like an extreme Haute Couture, beautifully and expertly created by exceptionally talented craftsmen, but that brings fashion to a deeper level. So, really what’s not to love?
Right now, it is Roscommon native and Central St. Martin’s graduate, Úna Burke’s latest collection that has my heart a-beating. Made from flesh-coloured leather strips, the collection represents “eight human gestures associated with [different] stages of trauma“. Some of the pieces remind me of medieval torture devices; there are pieces that strap the arms together, and a cage-like effect from the pieces designed to fit the entire torso. Designed around the shapes of the contorted female form, the result are pieces that also have a medical feel; think prosthetics, bandages and braces. Leather covered in brass studs shouldn’t come across as delicate, but the way that the collection has been shown, proves that it can. That is what I find most fascinating about it.
People often say that fashion is fickle and shallow, and in some cases I am inclined to agree. But to say that all fashion is shallow and then to have creative talents like Úna Burke in the industry, is absurd. To me, fashion has always been one of my favourite art mediums; conceptual collection’s like this one are fashion’s answer to Modern Artists, like Gustav Klimt or Marcel Duchamp. Extreme, controversial, beautiful, ugly and absolutely essential.
Head over to Úna Burkes website where there are far more images of this amazing collection.
Wow the detail!! Beautiful!
that is hardcore
I agree, I really appreciate when fashion crosses boundaries with arts, or science. Una worked out some amazing shapes and the designs also have a very strong emotional side, they communicate a sense of confinement and power, at the same time.