Lydia (Hsiao-Shan) Tung's Naturalistic Accessories

published in: Accessories, 07 Dec 2011

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Lydia (Hsiao-Shan) Tung is a Taiwanese born accessories designer with a minimalistic clean-cut approach, based in London, who recently graduate from the Cordwainers of  London College of Fashion with a BA in Accessories: Product Design & Development.

 Lydia for her final collection wanted to create a design with a purist aesthetic that is both modern and intelligent. As she explains, before the creation of machines, men already had the knowledge and ability to produce items using only the materials surrounding them. 

The shapes are formal, inspired by furniture constructions such as cabinets, drawers with joint details in order to create a range without stitching.  What makes Tung's accessories collection stand out is her idea of using slots and joints to lock the pieces together. Lydia replaced hardware with natural material-bamboo, a reliable and original material due to its lightness and durability making it suitable for accessory fittings.

Through her final collection, Lydia was selected to be among the Formosa Show 100, part of the London Design Festival. Her work has been includeded in WGSN's New Grads Feature -Accessories. She has been nominated for London College of Fashion's graduate awards in the category of Best Leather Craft Award and has won the 3rd prize for the MCM Project. Finally, she has achieved a Carmen Dell’ Orefice shoot in Paris.

For more details you can reach Lydia Tung Here. 

Other Links: Showtime

All images courtesy of LydiaTung©

Amy Becker-Burnett: Where Heavy Duty Meets Fragility

Amy Becker-Burnett is a young womenswear designer, who graduated recently from London College of Fashion with a BA in Fashion Design and Development. Her final collection was based around the Mexican Festival Dia de Los Meurtos.

What appealed to Becker-Burnett was the idea of making something as dark as death into something bright, decorative and fun. "I was inspired by the overly ornate and kitsch imagery from Day Of The Dead and it's focus on traditional crafts. The concept of my work was juxtaposing the tough and sinister with something softer and more feminine," she explains.

 
Becker-Burnet was drawn to the exploration of delicate sheer fabrics against heavy duty and unusual textiles. "The pieces in the range translate my love of collecting odd and mundane objects to create something beautiful and unique," says the talented designer. She also developed the idea of producing hand embellished pieces using nuts and bolts and unexpected components, again referencing the hand crafted aspects of Dia de Los Meurtos.

Amy Becker-Burnett Spring 2012 Video Lookbook from Emma Freed on Vimeo.

The video look book was created to capture the mood behind the collection, romanticise the garments and generate interest around the brand. The story behind the video was loosely based around the idea of stirring from death and reflects my love of styling and fashion film.

The pieces Becker-Burnett design are garments for stylish, confident and experimental women. I want the collection to symbolise understated elegance with harder more unconventional undertones.

 "I want the collection to symbolise understated elegance with harder more unconventional undertones," says Becker-Burnett.

All images courtesy of Amy Becker-Burnett©
Photographer: Emma Freed

Yuliya Libkina: Creativity Beyond Fashion Photography

published in: Photography, 16 Nov 2011

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Yuliya Libkina is an upcoming young talent who works as a freelance fashion photographer and designer. At the moment she is based in Ukraine and Japan and is available for commissions and editorial work.

She has been enjoying photography for a very long time. Yuliya's story starts with her father, who seemed to always carry a camera with him. That's why she too decided to pick up photography as a hobby, which later became a much more important part of her life. Yuliya has worked in both digital and film mediums and is experienced with a variety of cameras. She is confident with Adobe suit and other graphic software.

At the age of seventeen she came to England in search of novelty and eventually attained three A-level qualifications in Photography, Graphic Design and Japanese language. She then enrolled into LCC Graphic Design Foundation Diploma in order to experiment and further develop her skills. 

Yuliya combines photography work with design activity and the main reasons for that are a constant search of her own creative way and the opportunity of widening horizons without creating limits and boundaries in experiences. She has graduated London College of Fashion (University of Arts, London) with a BA(hons) in Fashion Photography.

Libkina often finds inspiration in the little things "that might be hard to notice in normal life. I always pay attention to details because I believe that such nuances is what visual culture is actually made of. It's a little bit ephemeral," she explains.

Libkina loves silent movies and vintage clothes, where she also turns for inspiration. "At the same time I adore Japanese musicians, their unique music and lyrics (BUCK-TICK, Suga Shikao etc). There are no limits, really to what inspires me," she says.

Yuliya recently took part in Dreams Exhibition and Capsule #2. In the future she plans to have an exhibition of her own and also keep participating in group events more. "My main goal for the next couple of years is to make myself a name as a fashion photographer here. I am at the very start of this journey and am truly excited with all the new opportunities I can find in this great capital (Tokyo). And one other thing that never changes is improve improve improve!" exclaims Yuliya. Being creative not only in work but also in life is Yuliya's motto.

All images courtesy of Yuliya Libkina©

Charlotte Lucy Barry: A Seduction To The Eye, Touch and Soul

published in: Fashion Design, 25 Oct 2011

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Exquisite craftsmanship doesn't even begin to describe the young and talented Charlotte Lucy Barry, a fresh graduate from London College of Fashion. Charlotte was born 22 summers ago in Southport near Liverpool. Little did she know how far along she would make it as a designer at such an early age.

Barry got her Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, which she passed with Distinction, and moved on to getting her BA in Fashion Design Technology: Surface Textiles. Her graduate collection incorporated lavish color, texture and detail. Different hues of mustard, ochre and gold help the intricate detail stand out and give a full 3-D visual. As Barry explains, inspiration for her came through the perfect ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The shapes are feminine and minimalistic giving way to the embroidery, which was engineered to fit each pattern piece individually. The highlight of the collection for her is "the tones and colours – I love how the details all melt into each other effortlessly".

 Barry describes her style as a combination of lady-like and slouchy, with great attention to intricate detailing in the fabric design. Her style heroine is Iris Apfel. She has no particular muse, but she is rather drawn to many people, and would love to see one of her designs on Florence Welch.

London has a special meaning to her, fashion-wise, as it offers her the potential for day to day reinvention.

Though only 22-years-old, Charlotte has many achievements under her belt. She showcased her collection at Vauxhall Fashion Scout during London Fashion Week in September. In May 2011, Barry was not only nominated for the Biddle Sawyer Silk Award for Innovative Use of Fabric, and selected for the BA Press Show, but she also won the Barnett Lawson Award for Use of Trimmings. In February 2011, she entered the Escada Design Competition on which she was highly commended.

Though Charlotte has not confirmed any immediate plans to work at an established design house, in five years time should would like to be known for her exquisite craftsmanship. Isn't she already?

For more information you can reach Charlotte Lucy Barry here.

Related links: Showtime

Images courtesy of Charlotte Lucy Barry©

Vasileios Kalamidas: Cinderella's New Footwear Designer

published in: Accessories, 10 Aug 2011

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It is always very refreshing when you a see new talent in the making, and especially when this talent is Greek. In early July, London College of Fashion had its graduate exhibition at the Victoria House. Among the people that showcased their work their was shoe designer on the rise, Vasileios Kalamidas.

Vasileios is a Greek footwear designer, based in London. While studying at Cordwainers in London College of Fashion, Vasileios has established his style in footwear. His work is characterised by minimalism within the haute couture structure of his shoes, offering an emotional euphoria to the viewer/customer.

His ethos is not only to respect the English heritage of handmade shoemaking but also to apply innovative ideas in design and construction development. Perceiving shoes as the ultimate luxury product for a woman, their necessity and beauty within their form’ Vasileios creates artefact wearable pieces that aim to last in time.

WGSN entered Vasileios at its Top Five “Emerging Talent at Cordwainers: Footwear Trend Analysis” characterising his work as “high-octane glamour.” At the present, Vasileios is focusing at his Masters degree at the London College of Fashion. His designs seem to have come straight from a couture fairytale, but luckily, for the fashionistas worldwide, they are 100% true. A little patience though people until his brand is launched in early 2013, and you will be able to walk up a storm.

(All photographs by Adrien Daste, courtesy of Vasileios Kalamidas)

Related links: http://www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/2011/live/