Wintersemester 2013/2014,

Irvine

4th year

Autumn/ Winter Collection

Antwerp. An old lady is walking on the street, moving a buggy around. She bents over it and starts talking. But there are not babies in it. She carries her poodles around. Three grown up poodles. She treats them like humans.

Hidden in anonymity, because I never got to talk to her I start to imagine her life story. I call her IRVINE. Clothes are memorabilia for her. She is a collector.

Two time periods of her life are the essential influences for the collection. In the 70s the Antwerp born IRVINE moves to an independent gypsy city called Ruigoord that is located in the Netherlands. Through the freedom she experiences that time she captures humor and idiosyncrasy. Back in Antwerp in the 80s she is part of the cold wave music scene.

The industrial flair of the city with its blackened house facades as well as the grubby Schelde determine the colors and the materiality of the collection. Eels are an allegory for the spirit of the city, therefor I used them as the subject for embroidery. The screen-print is made of collages of impressions both from Ruigoord and Antwerp. At the shooting I directed the model to be as anonymous as the actual IRVINE is. The photographs function as memories. The collection is unisex.

Photographer_ Jan Kapitän

Model_ Oliver Weiss

Design_ Judith Bondy