There are few shifted priorities for the blog now that I'm twiddling my thumbs and getting excited over QVC ladies selling Bob Mackie (don't get your hopes up...they're just boring embroidered tees...). Firstly, the DIY category WILL be amped up. I say WILL with capitals as if to WILL myself to do it. Ideas are a-flowing... just need to crank them out. Secondly, I'm free as a bird to flit around to visit studios and really investigate the goings-ons of my favourite designers. Actually that's a lie. I just want to have a good nosey around. Here's hoping people will oblige!
At the end of New York Fashion Week, I had no excuse NOT to go to Michael Angel's studio which was a stone's throw from Soho Grand where I normally stay and it all started really with this stuff... this laminated lace that created a clever veil over his prints which for A/W 10-11 (check out the very cute behind the scenes video on his website) went into a softer stained glass window territory mixed with Madame Gres pleating and Degas ballet dancers.
We had to first turn our attention to this lace, this pliable laminated plastic that in gold and black is such an amped-up texture to use over the prints. Its flexibility also meant that it would bend at will and stand away from the body to create a structure, best seen in the belted coat above...
I love that up close, it looks like a tightly wound piece of spun sugar...
In Michael's newly spacious space (he was working quite literally in a cupboard beforehand...), we got flighty with his A/W 10-11 fabrics and spread them out and it is then that you really get the idea of what is actually on with his print. So from his stained glass window shapes, he got this laser cut neoprene that when placed over a light infused print, creates a fabric stained glass window, ready to ply into skirts, dresses and jackets...
One of my other favourite textures from the rich A/W 10-11 collection was this mohair in blue and taupe that looked particularly good as a skirt with a soft section of volume created at the hips...
It was interesting to see that in a quick flurry, Michael grabbed this Madame Gres pleat-inspired print and draped it over the dress form which effectively starts the journey from print to piece. Instead of making sure the print comes through as a literal representation of something, Michael tries to drape the pieces so that by the end, it's a little ambiguous as to what the print depicts and that there's full dedication towards the ultimate shape of the piece.
I didn't even detect that Degas was lurking in amongst the ensembles... but here those dancers are, laid out, blurred and ready to be molded into something else...
What sort of a studio visit would this be without the sketch snaps?
The shoes for the A/W 10-11 show that Michael Angel designed on this own and had a Brazilian company produce them...
We had bit of a laugh delving into Michael's archives too where the prints are a tad more literally placed. That said, I'm not knocking those pieces which got me noticing Michael's work in the first place but it has been interesting for me to see the progression that he has made from these pieces to his present work. We may not see a Photoshop pixelised face in his future collections and that's just another sign that Michael is developing into a designer that can go beyond the digital prints that have up until now, semi-defined his aesthetic and that he can call upon different weapons (such as texture...) to create the clothes that his 'girl' is feeling. I'm so glad Michael said that his girl is a little bit 'off', a sentiment I'm always veering into...
His S/S 10 collection had a lookbook update a few months ago breathing new life into these jewel tone pieces...
His e-store has also had a revamp so that it now offers more pieces beyond printed tanks and leggings. Anything backed with neoprene that throws shapes around the body is getting my vote as well as the double faced satin super flared skirts with paperbag waists...
These are the permanent souvenirs of that session of fabric flooring. These jersey and silk chiffon fabrics are waiting to be made into cushion covers (because clearly that's the kind of time I have now to venture into soft furnishings...) and some Manolo Blahnik x Michael Angel S/S 10 show shoes (the ones I wore to the Elle Style Awards) that make my feet feel like they've been dipped in liquid emerald, if such a thing exists.
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