Hair Expo Finalist - Photographic Collection of the Year

The following images are a collaboration with hairdresser, Craig Smith and coordinated by the creative team at Beehive Creative. Beehive Creative founder and director, Leesa Smith approached me with a new concept to design garments by drawing directly onto photographs. Normally, the garments are created then documented in a photographic studio. But this time, the models were photographed in just body stockings and the poses/photographs were sent to me. The challenge was to design garments to the brief of 'Edgy Asian' then draw the designs into the contours of the models' body poses. My final drawings were superimposed onto the photo, and colour added to maximise the impact of this exciting and groundbreaking artistic approach. The images were Craig's submission for Hair Expo 2013 and have currently been selected as one of four finalists in Photographic Collections of the year.

Here are the original drawings completed in lead pencil on architectural tracing film. The small silhouette at the top corner of each image shows the full length design to be made by myself and my team.

Collaboration with The Art Of Hair

The following collection is a collaboration between my team, hairdresser Sharon Blain of the Art Of Hair and  photographer Ian Golding.

I approached Sharon a year ago with the concept of presenting the body as elegant urn or vase forms. This is in line with my current Masters of Fine Arts studio work about the 'Body and the Pot'.  I went to the Philippines to source Sinamay (a refined abaca fibre that is a relative of the banana tree) to make the sculptural over skirts.  We created corseted undergarments and dresses that can be fitted to each model on the day. Sharon Blain and her team from the Art of Hair matched sculptural hair styles reflecting the ideas in the garments. The photographic concept was to cast strong shadows onto the back wall of the studio, profiling the model as a vase. This was achieved beautifully with Ian Golding's lighting. 

Here are some additional photos taken by my partner, Charles.  These images are untouched and showcase the rich colour of the Sinamay fabric and the beautiful textures of the vintage tapestry fabric I purchased in Paris in 2002. The dresses with the frills are beautiful and we are releasing these in various fabric and colour combinations as 'Red Carpet ' looks.  The wearer looks great and can actually sit down with out compromising the silhouette and structure of the gown.