We Are Islanders
Irish label We Are Islanders debut collection, entitled Tidal, aims to challenge the concept of heritage, by merging old and
Hayley Trezise, Welsh based upcycling artist/designer, recently presented this very personal project entitled ‘Destruction’. Making the transition from fashion designer to fully-fledged textile artist, Trezise’s fashion, art installation was born of the distress felt following environmental tragedy.
Water contamination, radiation, deforestation, and air pollution, all leave ourselves, as well as the earth, scarred from the experience. This collection highlights our conflicted relationship that falls between harmony and discord. Constantly amazed and inspired by the natural world, and our very human and flawed relationship with it, Trezise created the collection from thoughts of destruction.
The process of creating the ‘Art of Destruction’ harnessed powerful emotions for Trezise. Calling on the power of emotion to tear down seemingly complete garments, by ripping, burning, tearing and staining, scarring, in effect, the innocence of pure white textiles. Mimicking the planets ability to heal itself and rebuild, Trezise reconstructed the shredded textiles with intricate, and oft-times delicate stitch work. Glimpsing the potential of rebirth through the fragile nature of the universe.
The collection combines a naivety of style, with complex stitching and textile combinations. The all white textiles focus attention on texture, and silhouette. Simple slip dresses combine a multitude of fine lace inlays, pin tucks and pearl buttoned plackets. Tattered shifts with deconstructed edges are highlighted with burned and shredded hems. Deconstructed to the extreme, the individual designs feature detailed piecing and patching to create unexpected forms and shapes that flatter the human form.
Falling somewhere between a Dickensian pauper, and a threadbare Victorian prostitute, pieces, flatter, cover and reveal simultaneously. The all white collection is punctuated by a single hemp colored dress with the appearance of being made from the canvas that lies between the layers of a well made jacket, combined with mattress ticking, and smocked seersucker. While two heavy woolen wraps contrast sharply with brushed and felted textures and rich plaids and plains, awkwardly, incongruously pieced together to form cocooning wraps.
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