Neon Playground: Graduate Collection
Lily’s collection encompasses early 20th century baseball and American football uniforms, Japanese kinbaku binding and traditional craft techniques. Observing vintage sportswear informed her silhouette choices through the use of padded applique’s, lace up jumpsuits and oversized shoulder pads. The fetish practice of Japanese Kinbaku binding and traditional craft techniques created an intriguing juxtaposition as macramé and applique focused on Kinbaku’s more artistic elements, bringing a modern yet lewd essence to traditional craft.
During Lily’s design process she always enjoys designing menswear with some more effeminate features including crop tops and shorts with sheer panels. She aims to mould the old concepts of masculinity within her vintage inspirations into something neutral and fluid. Tim Walkers ‘Wonderful Things’ exhibition and Ukiyo-e block printing inspired her bright and contrasting colour palette and graphic prints; one print in particular resembling a traditional weaving technique which meshed well with her use of macramé. With a passion for making her own prints and motifs, Lily developed an alien looking motif, inspired by the crab shells on a Ukiyo-e print. Whilst not featured in her final 6 line up she aims to use this print within a broader collection and within accessorises pieces to accompany the collection.
The collection melds together the traditional and fetishized, creating garments with a new perspective on how masculinity is represented within fashion, by allowing something artisticially lewd to reside within traditionally male silhouettes. Each piece provides its own take of how she see’s menswear progressing, from her pattern cutting to her intricate details of applique and hand crafted macrame. Her use of macrame in neon paracord elevates her collection, contrasting successfully with her bold oranges and navy prints, bringing her work into the future streetwear market.