My creative quest took me to a multidisciplinary event of art and fashion showcasing the works of emerging and established Romanian artist and designers. I thought it would be a good idea to attend to explore and have a glimpse into Romania’s culture and traditions through visual arts and fashion.
The event was organised by Industry of beauty under the slogan “We are the industry, you are the beauty!”,which took place at the gorgeous East Winter Garden in Canary Wharf. This is the first show of its kind, bringing art and fashion to the London international audience and the world. It aims to bring to the forefront the hidden skills and talents of their country through this sophisticated modern project. Industry of beauty believes People are the calling card of their country of origin. With them, through them, the image of the nation takes on unimaginable shapes.
The event featured live music from Marian Stan and works by both emerging and established artists and designers. The show included 11 fashion catwalk shows and the works of 12 visual arts were displayed on metal Easels around the Hall.
There was a large audience from different background in attendance. The crowd was wined and dined with tasty snacks. In conversation with a guest, she felt more people from the Romanian community should have attended to offer their support. I felt there was a good turnout for a first edition of the event.
Art
My initial attraction to this event was for the arts. I was hoping to explore and perhaps collect a piece or two. I was also interested in seeing the fusion of Art and fashion together as an entity and I was not disappointed.
Fine Art Photography
The highlight of the event was in the works of talented visual artist Alexandra Pasca who specialises in both paintings and photography. In conversation with Alexandra, she explains that Photography is a way of expression, a way of life, where portraits and nudes are her favourite themes.
In her photography works, she also demonstrates her talent in body art. She decided to cover these women in ink and words to show their inner thoughts on the largest organ of the body, the skin.
Alexandra wrote all the text individually on each of the subjects. The text written in French are the words of a famous writer. Each series of text serves as a replica for clothes. In my view, doing away with underwear and outerwear symbolises the shedding of layers of personalities, facades and barriers some might use to communicate and interact with the world. Alexandra believes, we are all extreme as we look for our inner self and soul. Her works also questions sexuality and power.
I like the way Alexandra presented her work. To me, it was like telling a story of the unveiling and concealing of self, starting from the left with words inscribed on the head representing a hat, then moving to the decolletage, the breast showing a corset of some sort and the back depicting a sexy fitted blouse, all inscribed in ink. Then all the way down to the bottom, legs and feet, mimicking suspenders and silky stockings. What do these works symbolise to you?
Paintings
At the other extreme, Alexandra’s painting collection is bright and alive, which is a direct contrast to her monochrome fine art photography above. She is inspired by the vibrant colours of Africa and motherhood.
The painting collection consists of 9 paintings representing each month in the nine month pregnancy of a woman. This series of work aims to capture the mood of a mother at the different stages of her pregnancy. Alexandra describes pregnancy as one of the most beautiful moment in a woman’s life.
The diverse range and painting styles in the works of Snejana Rivandori also caught my attention. Her works ranges from food art, self-portrait, abstraction, drawings, expressionism and much more. Below is one of my favourite from the show.
Snejana Rivandori has an interest in Fashion and believes it influences her paintings. She uses paintings to explore the mysteries of the universe in which we live and her technique is directed by her spiritual mood.
Snejana Rivandori studied Fashion Design at the National Arts University in Bucharest, but creating paintings and expressing herself through art is at the core of her being.
Fashion
The highlight of the event from a fashion perspective was the catwalk show by special guest, designer Cătălin Botezatu, who started off as a model in the Fashion industry. The show presented elaborate couture evening wear with models adorned in these larger than live head-gear.
The audience were allured with dominatrix and S & M scenes on the projection screen, which made for an intense and intriguing experience.
Models strutted down the catwalk to a mixed genre of music from rock to mid tempo music by the music band Disclosure.
And the man behind it all Cătălin Botezatu
Miss Grey Collection
A beautiful collection of silk, velvet, sparkly cocktail and evening dresses were presented in the Miss Grey Collection. The silhouette and cut of the dresses are stunning and make for timeless pieces.
Ilinca Avram collection
The fashion collection of Ilinca Avram was a mixed season collection, which included gorgeous silk flowing evening and summer dresses as well as chic semi casual dresses from the CODE 18 and STONE collection.
Casa De Moda Adeline Wedding collection
A gorgeous selection of wedding dresses of different styles ranging from mermaid, sweetheart neckline to full ball gowns were shown. It was exciting to see the models getting ready just before the catwalk show.
Art and Fashion fusion
This collection demonstrates the amazing fusion of art and fashion, showing talented creativity from an artistic and designer perspective. The clothes are wearable and create a visual impact. Combining art and fashion is a rising trend, which I believe we will continue experience more of. What do you think? I love the bright colours, geometric shapes, landscape prints and stitches on the mini dresses, which look like they’ve been individually painted on.
I love the cheeky theme in the works of plot twister sisters, where they take the mickey out of fairtytale characters. The Alice in Wastedland presents the wonderful Alice charged for narcotic possession and 5 of the other main characters. All characters were hand painted using water-colour, rendered digitally and printed on cotton t-shirts by fashion designer, Iulia Eana. I loved the concept and work so much, I had to leave with one of the cute Ts.
Jewellery
There were also interesting jewellery available that could be worn as a necklaces, bracelets and unique crochet head pieces. I like the presentation which draws the eyes to the jewellery on the black dress and white mannequins.
Departure
The show was a well turned out and sophisticated event, which I really enjoyed. Some of the people I spoke to had a good time as well. There was a good mix of fashion from high-end to everyday wear, some of which were affordable.
My favourite art works was by Alexandra Pasca, her fine art photography was impeccable and thought-provoking. Her talent is impressive, being able to demonstrate her skills in paintings, photography and body art is exceptional.
I loved the way the artworks were presented on Easels, but I felt some of art works acted as decorative pieces and were not really celebrated in the show. I find with art, people might need a little encourgagement to engage with the work. To me the event was more of a fashion show. A catalogue with the the name of the artist and designers would have been helpful, unless I missed this, it was a little bit difficult getting the names of the exhibitors. That said, a job well done by the organisers, I look forward to the next event.
I leave you with some more fashion from the event to enjoy and wet your appeptie for the next show in september.
A collaboration of art and fashion. Do you think this fusion is here to stay? Please share and comment or even better, subscribe to receive weekly blog posts.
