I met Ramil Makinano, a Filipino-born but London-based designer, over drinks at a pub near his place a while ago. It gave me a chance to get to know the man behind the clothes and see a few samples of his collection that I so liked from up close. Needless to say that he is a wonderful person, very kind and approachable with no diva syndromes (thank God!). Ramil graduated recently from the prestigious Central Saint Martins with a BA (Hons) Fashion with a focus on Fashion Print.
For his final collection, Makinano he visited many museums and galleries, but what really got his attention was non other than the 'Fit For a King' exhibition at the Tower of London, which included a collection of King Henry XVIII’s armour.
"I was very impressed with the method used to display these fascinating five centuries of royal armor using modern neon colored lighting and glass casing. The effect of this display turned the normally heavy, dark and sinister armor into seemingly light, bright, colorful and modern shapes. While I was looking at the exhibition, I could easily imagine these colors and shapes evolving into a collection," explains Makinano.
Fascinated by the exhibition, Ramil started researching armor, space suits used in films (e.g. Star Wars), and former British PM Margaret Thatcher as she was portrayed by many cartoonist in the 1980’s (i.e. armor as she was also known as the ‘Iron Lady’). This also lead the designer to look at the clothes worn by Mrs. Thatcher during the 1980’s, and her signature power dressing look (e.g.tailored suits, big shoulder pads and pencil skirts). To take it one step further, Makinano also delved into the 1980’s designs that have been inspired by armor and space, a silhouette that is closely related to the human body - strict and strong shoulders and hourglass shapes including those by Thierry Mugler.
The neon colors in the exhibition along with the bright hues of the 1980’s was the main influence behind Makinano's color palette of his final collection. The prints were inspired by space including rockets, space stations, astronauts and also evolved into geometric shapes. "I experimented with different printing techniques, fabric manipulation and fabrics, and found the best results. I achieved the shape that I wanted by using neoprene in bright colors," says Makinano.
His final collection is all about bright colours, geometric prints, pleating, hourglass shapes and big strong shoulders using modern natural and man-made fabrics. And may we just say that he did a damn fine job.
For more details you can reach Ramil Here.
All images courtesy of Ramil Makinano©
No comments:
Post a Comment