Blog Page 1697
Fashion Editor let loose in London
When the Cherwell Fashion section was lucky enough to secure access to two shows at the end of London Fashion Week 2012, I for one was ecstatic. Just those three letters L F W had me hysterical and already planning my best nonchalant, but still on trend, outfits to wear (incidentally had to pull the biggest fashion faux pas and wear the same thing twice due to a logistics error- the SHAME- but covered it up through the concept of recycling and the fact that really no one cared who I was). The shows were for designers I had never encountered before, and so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but last week I set off with two of my deputies to the capital, ready to experience all things Fashion.
Wednesday had us heading to Leicester Square, and once we had got over the minor mishaps of me nearly breaking my leg falling down the stairs of the Oxford Espress bus, and my deputy Adi getting his bag and nearly himself trapped in the tube doors, we arrived surprisingly on time at the nightclub ‘One’ for Danish Wekeel’s menswear show.
Wekeel is open in his desire for bravery, and in his press release he states his focus as catering for metrosexual men who aren’t afraid to break boundaries in order to be themselves. His collection entitled ‘Draped Modern Kouroi’ certainly didn’t disappoint in this respect. The focus was on drama, from the red petals scattered on our chairs to the opening burlesque show (as pictured), and even the film starring Danish himself. It certainly wasn’t for the faint-hearted. However, despite the surrounding drama, the clothes were definitely a step away from his previous collections that I had looked up, such as ‘Death Being Eroticized’ which was inspired by ‘decay, cruelty, dark glamour, fetishism, disconnection, phantasmagoria and the subculture Goth.’ I should probably be thankful that I was encountering a toned down Wekeel because some of these elements definitely still had a presence!
This collection, although still concentrating on sex and dark glamour to an extent, is designed to be wearable and in this Wekeel is mostly successful. The looks combined the idea of traditional draping, reasserting the drape as a masculine element looking back to Highland kilts and Greek and Roman togas, yet had a strong sense of tailoring. There were some really effective pieces, especially the jackets with asymmetric lines, and Danish’s personality was definitely visible in his work, something which was highlighted through his own modelling of the pieces. However I did find myself focusing more on the performance elements that preceded and then surrounded the show itself, and so I felt they were ultimately a little distracting from the main event- the clothes.
On Thursday the designer in question was Lewis-Duncan Weedon, who in a cheeky play on the well-known initials of London Fashion Week abbreviates his label to LDW atelier. This collection debuted in the more classy environment of the five-star Montcalm Hotel, Marble Arch, and there were even a few glasses of free champagne being passed around ‘VIP’ guests (sadly not me), yet there was still the same sense of drama.
Having briefly met Lewis-Duncan at Danish’s show the night before (and having to deal with the embarrassing situation of my camera breaking just as I tried to take his photo), I had already experienced his eccentricity as he wore fake eyelashes and liberal lip gloss teamed with a large statement beaded necklace and fake tattoo gloves. Consequently I was expecting something more out of the ordinary, yet in his womenswear collection Weedon keeps to classical feminine shapes . The focus is on glamour, and despite his large personality (he too modelled his own clothes in 6-inch heels), Weedon manages to keep to this brief. He celebrates the female form, and the collection felt wearable for a much wider audience. Although I must admit I was a little disappointed, having got a taste for the extreme the night before, even though not necessarily my ‘thing’, and I had hoped for something similarly memorable.
One point that really made an impression on me was that, refreshingly, there was a broad size range of models rather than just the stick-thin girls that we have come to expect, and this is something this branch of fashion could teach the bigger names. Wekeel’s show mainly showcased men but there were some female drapes and the women who were used in the performance sections were definitely ‘real’ size. Weedon’s choice of models had an even greater range, not just in weight, but also height and most interestingly age, using not only young models like Kimberley (one of the stars of Ireland and Britain’s Next Top Model) but also some much older models.
All in all my time at Fashion Week was definitely an eye-opener. In my lofty dreams of designers such as Chanel, Burberry, and Luella- I had been boring friends with the Karl Lagerfeld’s stills from Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2012 campaign just days before (would recommend this monochrome delight)- I wasn’t sure this world would be very ‘me’, and in a sense it wasn’t, yet I loved the way they stay true to their own visions and found the experience dramatic and exciting. There is a strong element of who-knows-who, as you would expect, however the mini-society I found with Danish Wekeel and LDW atelier was welcoming, friendly, and brilliantly out-of-the-ordinary.
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Adi and I following Wekeel’s ‘Draped Modern Kouroi’ show
The Two Gentlemen of Verona: Producer’s Blog
“Do you by any chance have a vintage stuffed dog?”
“No, but I have a small leather pig”
Now that rehearsals are underway and the cloud of worry that surrounds the beginning of any play is settling, I thought this would be a good opportunity to reminisce about the events that got me to this point.
I stood in the crowded Turl Street Kitchen, craning my neck to seek out a girl who looked like Kate O’Connor, or at least looked like a Kate O’Connor should look, since I had never met her before. That is the real problem with emailing: you can have long and rather informal conversations with someone you don’t know and have never met. I edged my way towards the bar, and the girl who stood next to me was cradling a copy of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”. I’m no detective, but I thought that was enough to go on.
After some introductions, we sat down and chatted about the play. “The comedy is crap,” she said. I stared; here is a director that has chosen to put on a play which she herself thinks is crap. Great. I wasn’t exactly filled with confidence.
Please forgive my ignorance. Those who are well acquainted with Two Gents will be aware that Launce has a pet dog called Crab. My mind’s eye readjusted to take in “The comedy is Crab”. A rookie mistake. Well, at least I wasn’t auditioning, as it would have generally been awkward if I had spent the entire time cursing.
No crap Crab would do. I was to search high and low for the perfect stuffed dog on wheels. It is on these occasions where the outside world can really scare you. Having typed “vintage, stuffed dog on wheels” into my computer I was bombarded with a host of the scariest toys in Britain. There was one quite horrendous dog which, I admit with slight embarrassment, plagued my dreams that evening. It was bright pink, with round, giant, slightly glazed-over eyes and a creepy over-stretched smile. The overall impression was “buy me or I’ll kill you”. I resisted the threat and can say with a sigh of relief that I haven’t so far been visited in the night by a large, pink, psychotic dog. All in all, the search was becoming rather consuming. I remember coming across a pull-along wooden snail and considered purchasing it – no, Sarah, what use would you have for a pull-along wooden snail? It really is a niche market! Nevertheless, the hunt for Crab continues.
Stuffed dogs aside, the search for actors was also high on my list of priorities, especially male ones. Finding men in Oxford can be difficult enough, but in the Oxford Drama scene where the ratio of girls to boys is 3:1, this was going to be more of a challenge than searching for a date. And then came the Shakespeare. There is something about Shakespeare that causes even the best of actors to stand up tall, puff out their chest and use their “Shakespeare voice”. The era we are setting the play does not call for this style of acting; the language needed to be natural in order to fit in with the American jazz age scene atmosphere. All in all, we had our work cut out.
Thankfully, with a combination of begging, bullying, a duke transforming into a duchess, and many cries of “stop using your ‘Shakespeare voice’”, I can safely say we have a stellar cast and I am excited for rehearsals to begin.
Sarah Leonard is the producer for Barbarian Productions’ The Two Gentlemen of Verona, to be performed May 1st-5th in Christ Church Cathedral Gardens, complete with stuffed dog. Tune in next week for the director’s perspective, and for more information about Two Gents visit their website, www.barbarian-productions.com or follow them on twitter @twogentsox.
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Blockbusters and Bueller: the 80s in film
The 1980s saw the explosion of the Blockbuster: following epics like Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977), films had to be bigger, more action-packed, and more dazzling. The highest grossing films of the decade, like the two Star Wars sequels, and the Indiana Jones franchise, revel in reckless adventure, with brilliant special effects technology, sophisticated sound tracks, mega-marketing budgets, and costly, highly-paid stars. And yet it’s easy, with the modern tendency to disguise taste under fifteen layers of irony, to only appreciate the 80s with an air of superiority, or at least as a ‘guilty pleasure’. But should anyone really feel guilty for loving Uncle Buck, or for understanding that David Bowie’s Labyrinth is literally the best thing ever? This was a time in film that was about exactly the opposite: unapologetic fun.
After MTV launched in 1981 with the words ‘Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll!’, the impact was seen everywhere in popular culture. As studios pandered to the new and demanding ‘MTV generation’, there was an unprecedented surge in action-packed, flashy, often simplistic movies, such as Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) and Die Hard (1988). But the outpouring of films aimed at a teenage audience saw the establishment of a cinema institution: the John Hughes teen movie. Invariably honest and hilarious depictions of middle-class American high school life, Hughes’ success lay in his ability to simultaneously respect the universal conflicts and longings of his almost painfully ordinary adolescents, and find the humour within them. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) celebrates the importance of seeking joy in life, as Ferris’s rebellious intelligence charms everyone around him, and even begins to transform his antithetically awkward best friend. But in ‘the simplest terms, the most convenient definition’, The Breakfast Club (1985) is the ultimate teen movie. Exploring the scramble of five members of different cliques to discover a more substantial identity, the movie examines adolescent issues of sex, drugs, abuse, suicide both faithfully and subversively. But if the angst of stereotyping ‘a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal’ feels a little dated, then Michael Lehmann’s Heathers (1989) provides bite and modern wit which still resonates. A dark comedy satirising competitive teen popularity, Heathers takes classroom revenge to its final conclusion: ‘teen angst bullshit has a body-count’. Full of savage one-liners (‘Did you have a brain tumour for breakfast?’) shocking violence, and an incredibly sharp performance from Winona Ryder, this film stands out against its earnest and euphoric contemporaries, and even now remains fresher than it’s descendant Mean Girls (2004).
But the unashamed enthusiasm of the decade is most exuberantly captured in its delight in pop music, as characters across the spectrum dance, mime and sing with youthful joy and playfulness. From the archetypal Adventures in Babysitting opening, to Marty McFly’s ‘new sound’, to the unabashed, childish physical comedy of Beetlejuice’s Banana Boat Song, the vibrant effervescence of the 80s big musical numbers captures the spirit of the decade in cinema. Even touching its darker instances (Platoon’s moment of relief comes as a Tracks of my Tears singalong, heart-breaking in its humanity in contrast with the grim war scenes, and the poignancy of the laughing soldiers belting the lyric “Although I might be laughing loud and hearty, deep inside I’m blue”) the release of musical expression is undeniable. But yet again it’s Hughes who does it best, with the Breakfast Club’s detention disco, Duckie Dale’s frantic Otis impression, and Ferris Bueller’s unforgettable parade scene as 10,000 people twist and shout along with him. In Ferris’s immortal words, ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it’, and this defiant thirst for rebellious fun is what the 80s was all about.
Review: Chronicle
I would have liked to have been psychic as a teenager. There’s something reassuring about knowing that, in one of those scalding adolescent moments, you can make somebody’s kidneys explode with a thought. Secretly being psychic, or a superhero, or a wizard, or possibly a martial artist, would be fantastic in that awkward period when you’re hoping to become an alpha male, but seem to be able to do little but grow slowly hairier.
On second thought, it is probably just as well teenage boys are not psychic. Take, for example, Chronicle, where three high-school kids find a crystal thing down a hole near a warehouse rave (‘What did Jung say about glowsticks?’) and develop the power to move objects around slightly unconvincingly with their minds. Naturally it all goes fatally wrong before 83 minutes are up.
Chronicle’s gag is that, like Cloverfield or The Blair Witch Project or all those other movies, it has been filmed by the characters themselves. So in dull moments you can play a game of ‘What exactly are the chances that someone happened to be filming this dramatically significant moment?’ It is partly explained by the fact that one character is a misfit with a thing for filming his life. ‘You don’t think it’s weird? Like it puts a barrier between you and everything else?’ ‘Maybe I want a barrier.’ Or maybe he just has his eye on the film rights.
With its shaky handheld camera, Chronicle keeps its superkids in a real-ish world of high-school angst. (Although each looks roughly twenty-five.) There is less battling the forces of evil than doing magic tricks to impress girls and then sulking. Angst-bitten teen superheroes may not be head-explodingly new. But in Chronicle the multicoloured lycra and the supervillain never actually turn up. The boys are too busy devastating the Pacific Northwest themselves.
Chronicle is a surprisingly good debut film. But it shows its immaturity a little. The boys’ CGI psychic powers look a bit wobbly. Floating objects tend not to move at quite the same rate as the purposeful limbs or clenched temples thrust towards them. And the characters I could swear I have seen before in my pyjamas in some More4 teen drama or other.
But overall, rather like finding a big psychic crystal down a hole near a warehouse rave, Chronicle is an unexpected treat. It just may not quite blow your mind.
4 stars
Quaintrelle Anarchist
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Why ‘Quaintrelle Anarchist’?
I chose the name because I thought it described what I like and what I make rather well; cute but crazed, sweet but a little disturbing. I like juxtaposition!
Can you describe your label?
I hand-make clothing and accessories as well as selling hand-sourced vintage items and re-working vintage clothing. I would say the style is rather varied because I like so many different styles myself.
What inspired you to start selling your clothing and accessories online?
I’ve always sewn and crafted and thought for a long time that I wanted to have my own label. It was really a case of finding the right time to set it up! I chose to base my shop online (as opposed to in a market or shop) because I’m always moving around so I need to be able to take my ‘shop’ with me which is easy if it’s virtual.
What kind of person do you see wearing your products?
Anyone who likes them! Most probably someone who likes things that are a little different and unique as I never make the same item twice.
Where are your products most popular?
I’ve sold the most items to America so far and then England.
You are currently reading Oriental Studies and have lived in Japan. Do you think this has had an effect on your work?
Definitely. There are some inspiring subcultures in Japan as well as great crafting supplies and I have new ideas for things to make every time I return. It’s far from my only inspiration or interest though as I’m also inspired by music I listen to, painters and illustrators I like and most other things in between.
How do you manage your business and your studies?
I stockpile by making things for my shop during the holidays so in term all I have to do is list new items on my shop every so often and ship orders so I don’t think it takes up too much time. I have many sewing marathons in the holidays but luckily the holidays are so long.
What kind of response have you had from your friends at your college?
My friends have said good things about my shop which is nice and I don’t think they were surprised I started a shop because I’m always wearing thing’s I’ve designed and made.
Would you recommend having an Etsy/online shop as a part-time job for a student?
Definitely. Because the shop is online you can put as much or little time into it as you want so if you have a busy week you can just ship orders and not put any new items up. I would only recommend having one of you really enjoy making things and have time to put your shop out there on the internet though because that does take quite a bit of effort. I really enjoy it and love finding other people’s shops so of course I’d recommend it.
What is the best thing about running your own business?
I always get excited when I ship an item to somewhere that I’ve never been myself like Brazil or Finland because I think it’s so strange/amazing that someone there will be walking around wearing something I made. Getting really nice feedback is also rewarding as is deciding when you work and being able to look as you please. Then there’s the fact that people will essentially pay you to do something you love, that’s great too.
Will you carry it on after you graduate? If not, what are your plans?
I will not only continue but I plan to expand my shop to include things such as my paintings, more elaborate garments and handmade dolls because I will have more time to work on them.
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Photos by Charles Shepherd at RoomC Photography
Ebdon criticises Oxford
Professor Les Ebdon has been formally announced as head of the university fair access body, despite opposition from MPs on the selection committee.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has rejected attempts to block Professor Ebdon as the head of OFFA (the Office for Fair Access), which aims to “safeguard and promote fair access to higher education.”
Professor Ebdon caused controversy after referring to national university rankings as “a snobs’ table” which guarantees that “institutions like Cambridge and Oxford are always at the front, while newer places bring up the rear.”
He also condemned the UK’s “Oxbridge obsession,” referred to the “well-off and well-heeled” Russell Group as “these people,” and claimed that for privately educated students, the rise in tuition fees “might not seem an awful lot of money.”
Russell Group Director General Dr Wendy Piatt told Cherwell, “We sincerely hope that the new director of OFFA will come to recognise the tough challenges we face in trying to widen access.”
However she expressed concern that, “The access agreements risk focusing too much on regulation rather than resolving the real problems. The emphasis on targets and powers for OFFA could distract attention, effort and resources from the many successful access schemes run by Russell Group universities or even disincentivise universities from continuing with some activities in deprived areas which target the students who are the hardest to reach.”
Nadia Odunayo, a second year student at University College, agreed, commenting, “Les Ebdon clearly wants to make big changes, but it is important that he does not lose sight of where the real problems lie. A big factor in the whole access issue is to do with problems that begin at school level and the underlying weakness in many applicants is not solved by merely putting pressure on universities to accept a more diverse range of students.”
Corpus Christi student Samuel Newhouse noted, “Any blame attributed to universities carries the absurd assertion that a significant number of tutors, who are some of the most intelligent people in the country, carry backward, ignorant prejudices. Ebdon and a worrying number of MPs spout clichés without having truly considered the problem.”
However, some have emerged in support of Professor Ebdon’s appointment. Robin McGhee, Liberal Democrat candidate for Oxford City Council and St Anne’s undergraduate, commented, “I’m delighted Les Ebdon has been appointed OFFA director. Like me, he is a solid opponent of tuition fee increases. Unfortunately the Lib Dems had to have some trade-offs with the Tories to get him appointed. But I like to think of Coalition trade-offs as like Pokemon cards. You have to part tearfully with the shiny Blastoise but, by God, you get an Articuno in exchange.”
A spokesperson for Oxford University said, “The director of OFFA is an important role for the sector. We will continue to work constructively with the new director and look forward to welcome him in Oxford in due course.”
Professor Les Ebdon has been formally announced as head of the university fair access body, despite opposition from MPs on the selection committee.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has rejected attempts to block Professor Ebdon as the head of OFFA (the Office for Fair Access), which aims to “safeguard and promote fair access to higher education.”
Professor Ebdon caused controversy after referring to national university rankings as “a snobs’ table” which guarantees that “institutions like Cambridge and Oxford are always at the front, while newer places bring up the rear.”
He also condemned the UK’s “Oxbridge obsession,” referred to the “well-off and well-heeled” Russell Group as “these people,” and claimed that for privately educated students, the rise in tuition fees “might not seem an awful lot of money.”
Russell Group Director General Dr Wendy Piatt told Cherwell, “We sincerely hope that the new director of OFFA will come to recognise the tough challenges we face in trying to widen access.”
However she expressed concern that, “The access agreements risk focusing too much on regulation rather than resolving the real problems. The emphasis on targets and powers for OFFA could distract attention, effort and resources from the many successful access schemes run by Russell Group universities or even disincentivise universities from continuing with some activities in deprived areas which target the students who are the hardest to reach.”
Nadia Odunayo, a second year student at University College, agreed, commenting, “Les Ebdon clearly wants to make big changes, but it is important that he does not lose sight of where the real problems lie. A big factor in the whole access issue is to do with problems that begin at school level and the underlying weakness in many applicants is not solved by merely putting pressure on universities to accept a more diverse range of students.”
Corpus Christi student Samuel Newhouse noted, “Any blame attributed to universities carries the absurd assertion that a significant number of tutors, who are some of the most intelligent people in the country, carry backward, ignorant prejudices. Ebdon and a worrying number of MPs spout clichés without having truly considered the problem.”
However, some have emerged in support of Professor Ebdon’s appointment. Robin McGhee, Liberal Democrat candidate for Oxford City Council and St Anne’s undergraduate, commented, “I’m delighted Les Ebdon has been appointed OFFA director. Like me, he is a solid opponent of tuition fee increases. Unfortunately the Lib Dems had to have some trade-offs with the Tories to get him appointed. But I like to think of Coalition trade-offs as like Pokemon cards. You have to part tearfully with the shiny Blastoise but, by God, you get an Articuno in exchange.”
A spokesperson for Oxford University said, “The director of OFFA is an important role for the sector. We will continue to work constructively with the new director and look forward to welcome him in Oxford in due course.”
MIT to offer free online course
One of the world’s leading universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has announced its first free course which can be studied and assessed online.
The course, 6.002x: Circuits and Electronics, which will begin in March, is an electronics course that is the first prototype of an online project, known as MITx. It is anticipated to take 10 hours per week, finishing in June.
Despite the current existence of online degree courses, the project represents major progress in the use of technology to deliver higher education. Students worldwide can study for a MIT certificate, without any entrance requirements or cost.
The university has mentioned that it would like MITx to ‘shatter barriers to education’. A spokesman also mentioned that the course is not a ‘watered down’ version of the campus course or ‘any less intense’.
The prototype is dependent on an ‘honour code’ in which students commit to behaving honestly. However, mechanisms to check identity will be implemented.
The provost of the university has commented that they are looking to experiment to discover what can be delivered by online courses and what needs traditional face-to-face interaction. MIT have commented that they can only teach a fraction of those who would like to study at the university, and the course allows them to reach a much larger number of students.
Courses in other subjects such as maths and biology are to be introduced subsequently.
A spokesman for Oxford University commented that Oxford’s own e-learning and online provision is ‘certainly among the most forward-looking in the UK in terms of open educational offerings.’
‘It is worth noting first and foremost that undergraduate courses at Oxford cannot be replicated or replaced by open educational offerings such as iTunes U because at Oxford teaching is focused on the tutorial where one or two students meet a tutor to discuss subjects in depth.’
More than 500,000 lectures are available for free download on the iTunesU Service. Oxford currently has more content on service than any other UK university, and has the number one global chart podcast from the series ‘Building a business.’ Oxford’s iTunesU has more than 3,000 published items and more than 100,000 downloads per week, with some tutors having recorded an entire lecture series. The site also features public lectures, talks at Oxford’s annual alumni weekend, interviews with researchers about their work and interviews with our students about their Oxford experience.
University of Oxford’s Open Spires project has harnessed technology to release hundreds of hours of Oxford lectures online to benefit learners and teachers all over the world. Academics are giving away their content as open resources under a creative commons license. This is one of the largest open education projects in the UK and places Oxford alongside MIT, Yale and Berkeley as leading research institutions who make learning materials available for free.
Oxford’s Department for Continuing Education began offering online courses in January 2004, and there are now 58 short online courses available. Courses are repeated each year, meaning 150 courses are provided per year, on average. The courses have attracted 2500 students so far this year (2011 – 12).
The Department gives careful thought to the subjects in which to develop short online courses, ensuring they fit within a coherent and balanced portfolio which offers students choice and variety within the available subject disciplines. The range of courses currently available is weighted towards the Humanities, in which the Department has an established reputation. The provision of Economics, Mathematics, Natural and Environmental Science, Politics and Psychology courses is being expanded, not only in response to student demand in these areas but as academic staff in the wider University wish to extend their scholarship to the medium of online teaching and learning.
Oxford’s new Certificate in Higher Education is equivalent to one year of full-time undergraduate study at first year level. Students can use the credit that they obtain from online coruses to count towards gaining an award from the University. The course is now accepting applications and will begin in autumn of 2012. There are nine subject areas to choose from : Archaeology, Art, History, Architectural History, History, Italian, Literature, Creative Writing, Philosophy, or Spanish.
A ring of writers
Group 2012 is an Oxford-wide newly-created endeavour for budding novelists who wish to come together to share the worries and woes that surround putting pen to paper, or submitting book to publisher. The group is open to a writer at any stage of his career: the first-time novelist who is basking in the glow of having just been published; the seasoned author, who can offer handy hints drawn from his own illustrious career writing books; the young student, who has only just decided she wants to try her hand at writing a novel.
The group, comprised of a large number of members of the public, is joined by a panel of published authors. The first meeting, held in the upstairs section of Blackwell’s, involves a round of introductions from the panel and then a discussion as to what exactly the group would like to cover during its meetings. The charming thing about this literary circle is its democratic aspect: content of meetings will not be decided by the panel members organising them, but by the people who will swell their ranks.
The discussion ensues, with a free glass of red wine at everybody’s side. The discussion covers not only the content of future meetings, but also strays into fiery disagreements about the merits (or otherwise) of the dreaded Kindle. During the introductory stage, each member of the panel has already introduced their literary pursuits to the audience gathered before them. Their range of achievements is impressive, and includes a writer of historical fiction, a children’s author and an author who has been driven to self-publish. The varied expertise of the panel means budding authors of all genres should find somebody they can relate to.
The group will meet monthly, and will provide a source of support and advice for those struggling, or thriving, as they pursue their careers as authors. The turnout shows just how many people aspire to become writers; but it serves as a reminder as to how difficult it is to succeed in this competitive world.
London Fashion Week: Danish Wekeel’s ‘Draped Modern Kouroi’
Danish Wakeel is a young London based fashion designer who recently launched his forth collection aimed for the fall-winter 2012 season. ‘Draped Modern Kouroi’, his first wearable collection, was created exclusively for men as an echo of the designer’s own metrosexual image and rebellious personality.
An offspring of the industry, Danish fills an aspiring haut-couture niche, aiming his creations to ‘men who are confident enough to look different and ahead of fashion’, men who ‘have an urge to be noticed wherever they go’. The designer’s sense of couture is distinct, his collection fusing high fashion with dark glam and, at the same time, giving a new take on classic designs.
The whole show surrounding the launch event was meant to transpose the audience in a modern Dionysian fairy-tale: red rose petals, feathers, exotic dancers with a slight touch of fetish; a bit tacky if you ask me, but it had the required effect.
The designer ‘s inspiration came from the concept of drapes. Although in current fashion trends drapes are associated with women’s wear, historically they were unisex items, worn by men in the form of togas, kilts or attires. Bearing this idea in mind, Danish produced a collection mainly focused on blazers. He started from the classic shape and gave it wide cuts and asymmetric contours, experimenting with shades, shapes and volumes, which expose plenty of skin and come to embrace those sculpted silhouettes.
The overall monochromatic pallet that Danish used was highlighted here and there with intricate patterns and prints invoking a diverse mixture of artistic leitmotifs. Throughout the collection the eventual chromatic simplicity of particular items was countered with textural details in pieces such as a pair of trousers with embroidered glass beads or, my favorite, a black blazer with black feathers details sewed in the material.
When not blinking your eyes away, the trousers were just supporting other items of the collection. The general cut was an interesting reinterpretation of classic British tailoring details, which was strongly influenced by Ottoman shalwars, wide at the top and skin-tight on the ankle.
Danish did occasionally break the male exclusivity of the collection and introduced a few dresses: a humble study of straight cuts, low backs, frilly details and feminine figures in general.
Although it feels slightly out of the space and time of current mainstream fashion, the collection will definitely find its way to the wardrobes of many extravagant fashionistas.