Sofia and Serge set a brief and discussed the concept of the Utopian bodies – Fashion Looks Forward exhibition with our Account Manager, Ashley Backhouse. Excited by the prospect, our team of craftsmen began producing bespoke figures, some of which were to display unconventional and unique designs. True to the brief, tweaks and innovative amendments were made to some of the bodies: a flashing heart built into a mannequin and cutaway figures which appeared to make the clothing float in mid-air.
Regardless of whether you are a fashion junkie or not, we all have a relationship with attire that plays a major part in our lives. Think of clothes as our outer shell, we wake up in the morning and decide what armor to wear that day – a protection if you like. ‘Does this outfit portray me as how I want to be perceived?’ ‘Does it represent my personality?’ Or the dreaded question – ‘does my bum look big in this?’ These are some of the questions we ask ourselves on a daily basis.
But fashion can delve deeper than just the surface and how it affects us as individuals. Take sustainability, technology, and society for example. What if garments could be produced without leaving a carbon footprint? Or recycled from household waste? Maybe we could all look away from our phones and focus on our surrounding environment, simply by relying on our clothing to navigate us by a tap on the shoulder, instead of following a phone map? It is innovations like these that make you re-think fashion and the importance it can hold in our lives.
Throughout this exhibition each gallery was inspired by a utopian ideal, which included innovation, technology, memory, gender identity and love. The show looked at the history, evolution and interpretation of fashion, with over 200 garments from luxury brands, high street retailers and Swedish designers, all presented in a beautifully curated space.
