This is how Charlene Muscat and Angelique Attard describe their latest fashion collection Biosphere. Anna Marie Galea finds out how the designers’ paintings come to life on fabric.
As sunny as the orange and yellow butterflies on their dresses, Charlene Muscat and Angelique Attard of Creative Factory 7 opened Malta Fashion Week in a flurry of colour that turned the usually grey Valletta streets into something of a botanical garden.
“To us, colour is very important. In fact, it has been a constant throughout all of our collections,” the two tell me as we sit down and look through the rainbow of fabrics that made their collection stand out so much.
“We wanted something that was wearable, yet really fresh; something that was a bit like wearing pieces from an exhibition.”
And indeed, that’s exactly how those who wear any one of the pieces from the designers’ Biosphere collection will feel. The collection found its inception in the 10 paintings they created prior to starting work on the clothes themselves.
“This year we worked in a different way. Whereas last year, the starting point was the clothes, this collection was much more challenging. We had to come up with the concept first and then paint the pictures based on that concept. The final step involved superimposing and manipulating those same pictures onto the different fabrics that we wanted to use for our collection.”
So do they feel that their work has evolved from an artistic point of view?
“Definitely. When we first started, we used to do things very primitively. We’ve always loved the idea of having our prints on the clothes that we made. At the beginning of our career, in fact, we actually used to physically paint designs onto our clothes so that they were literally live canvases of our work. Primarily, we started out as artists and evolved into fashion designers.”
Choosing five species of animals and insects which are linked together by the fact that they each live in communities, Attard and Muscat used a famous Nelson Mandela quote in order to manifest their conceptual ideas:
“I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities”.
The collection found its inception in the 10 paintings they created prior to starting work on the clothes themselves
They explain that they felt that it was very important to convey this message of unity. In the same way that animals and insects live in communities and depend on each other to survive, humans also need each other.
“Each individual has a role to play. The animals and insects chosen were specifically picked for their ability to relate with their fellow species for their own benefit and that of the rest of their societies. I suppose you could say that we want life to imitate art and become as united as nature.”
Influenced by current events, the duo feels that the climate itself had led them organically to their concept.
“A lot of things have happened at once. What with gay rights issues and the on-going controversies regarding immigration, we wanted to present the idea of an ideal human world which is as united as the natural one.”
It is not only unity which is important, but also creativity.
“We want to push the boundaries and inspire people to think outside of the box when it comes to everything, but especially when it comes to clothes. We really want people to be individual and not follow a pre-set and standardised formula. That is why we only make unique, one-off pieces. We want the wearer to feel extra special about the fact that they are wearing a piece of art. Ultimately, our mission is to bring art closer to people.”
Due to this, there is a long and arduous job which goes into the making of each dress.
“The first things we do is brainstorm and come up with a concept. This doesn’t always happen easily, as inspiration doesn’t always strike straight away.”
The duo works very closely with their tailor, Geatano Deguara, to come up with concepts that can actually be translated into clothing.
“Many times our dresses are made up of several different parts and fabrics. We love the challenge of using different fabrics and textures and discovering what works together and what doesn’t. Our dresses could easily be made up of a fusion of crimplene, gabardine and chiffon. It’s really rewarding to see the number of elements that have gone into one dress. The process gets us excited every time.”
And now that their collection is complete? Attard smiles: “We should take a break because we’ve been very busy lately. But in truth, I always feel the need to create; it’s something I feel I have to do all the time. We love doing lots of different things, and, in fact, we’re going to be making some silk and chiffon scarves out of the prints and some brooches too. Ultimately, we would love for everyone to be able to have piece of art in their wardrobe.”