Every touching story has unusual storylines and elements. How much you know about the story depends on your attitude to, curiosity about and exploration of it. We can easily figure out the brand logos on the clothing of people walking through streets and alleys, but how much do we understand the stories behind the brands?
A number of independent original fashion brands have sprung up in Macao, as the SAR government vigorously promotes the local cultural and creative industries in recent years. In view of this, the Macao Fashion Gallery continues to organize the “2018 Brand Story—Macao Original Fashion Exhibition” this year, providing a platform for local original fashion brands to tell their own stories, through open call for brand stories, followed by evaluation and selection.
Six fashion labels including I.N.K, Jade.L, alexis jordan, Nega C., Denimworks and ella épeler will be showcased and available to purchase in the exhibition. The exhibition is divided into three phases, with two brands to be shown in each phase. The event will start with the street fashion of I.N.K and gender-neutral designs of Jade.L, followed by alexis jordan’s male clothing of metropolitan improvisation as well as Nega C.’s sweet and romantic style in the second phase. It will be concluded by Denimworks’ jeans featuring unique craftsmanship and ella épeler’s totem illustrations.
2018 Brand Story—Macao Original Fashion Exhibition：
I.N.K Exhibition theme – “BATTLE: expedition”:
This time I.N.K presents its themed series by “chapters” instead of “seasons” hoping to tell a story in a more complete way. The theme is inspired by the 50s’ military garments. The designer redefines the fashion marked by solemnity with humourous designs featuring odd-length, disproportionate and misplaced parts, as well as eye-catching accessories adapted from military buckled belts.
The theme not only carries the military spirit of toughness, but also elements of Hip-hop music, namely, of impromptu street rap battles, which are exchanges intended to get audience’s cheers. The fashion series of this exhibition adds creativity to graffiti and sport cultures, innovating Hip Hop music culture with the 90s’ cutting style.
The series uses jungle green, vermilion, grey, black among other colours used for military purpose. Military coats made of soft alpaca wool, coupled with skateboard pants of lazy, casual denim and hooded sweater of cozy cotton build a new fashion in a leisure city. Classic MA-1 and M-65 flight jackets are transformed with elastic nylon, breaking away from the stereotypically grave image of military clothing.
Besides, this first series adopts the flower symbol of Macao as the theme, demonstrating the culture underlying the city’s fashion brands. The designer links Macao, fashion and taste of life with “ink”, suggesting the flying of the flag for fashion, and the start of the brand’s “expedition”.
JADE.L Exhibition theme – “Gentlewomen”:
The theme is inspired by feminism of the 19th century, when women’s dressing became increasingly gender-neutral with fewer constraints under the influence of men’s dressing style.
Referring to the dressing style of the then British gentlemen, the designer applies the ideas of frock and cape coats in the details of the women’s clothing in an attempt to blend feminine glamour with unpretentiousness and competence in the series. The double faced wool, as a main clothing fabric, carries the visual effect of haziness like the view on a smoggy day, while the overall yellowish grey colour of the series gives a fuzzy and confusing impression.
The exhibition is set in a way reminiscent of the smoggy atmosphere in the time of industrial development, accompanied by the assorted wheat and flaxen exhibits which being in sunlight, help create a dim, yellow space of warmth. It makes visitors feel as if they were back in the 19th century, experiencing the fusion of modern and vintage fashions in the era of mystery and simplicity.
