With Fashion Week in full swing, here are some interesting spottings of the synergy between fashion and interiors:
The Nya Nordiska’s Isabella which has been awarded with several design prizes, took part in Sidewalk Catwalk in New York City. 30 display mannequins located along the Broadway presented models of some of the top US fashion designers. Among them, you will find such well-known names as Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan and Isaac Mizrahi.
Since the model dresses had to stand the conditions of an outdoor exhibition for about two months, “Material ConneXion” looked for especially vanguard and sustainable fabrics. The prominent designer duo Mark Badgley + James Mischka decided on Isabella. The interior dec fabric was transformed by them into a strapless wedding gown.
Designer Jane Bowler has created some stunning new takes on rain coats using old shower curtains. Her Fusion Collection uses a process that is completely stitch-free, a combination of industrial techniques such as heat-forming and ultrasonic welding. (The latter method involves high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations to bind materials together.)
At the core of Fusion’s high-tech engineering is Bowler’s belief that recycled products can be luxurious, innovative, and desirable. “Fusion is designed to make plastic fantastic for longer,” she says. “[And] to create a garment that the owner will be reluctant to throw away.”
In keeping with Bowler’s mantra of reduce and reuse, even the rubber molds she had made are designed to be used again. The result is a series of space-age slickers in burnished metallic hues like gold, bronze, and titanium.
Bowler’s work will be included in an upcoming exhibition called Sustain during the this week’s 2010 London Design Festival. The show will highlight creative solutions to sustainability issues in design.
Fusion will be on display at the Royal College of Art’s Upper Gulbenkian Gallery, as part of London Design Week, from September 23 to October 7.