SHONE
PUIPIA
The Wild Bunch

Following the past two collections, the identity of the woman continues to evolve and transform with my Master collection, “The Wild Bunch”. I am very much interested in the power of fashion to convey a vision – giving insight into a constructed world, a dreamscape. The works of German avant-garde photographer Grete Stern, especially in her series of photomontages of dream sequences and the American contemporary artist Sarah Sze along with her monumental installations made from various found objects that make up an other worldly landscape, lay the ground work on the development of this collection.

Taking a departure point from Peter Weir’s 1975 mystery-drama ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, we follow a group of Victorian school girls who dared to trust their instincts and venture into the wild rugged landscape of Hanging Rock. Their mysterious disappearance prompts me to ask where they could have ended up. Their innocence and youth along with their pure virginal dresses carry a darker, wilder undertone. Perhaps they entered into a parallel reality where their perfect setting seems to have turned over and a hot-blooded energy have taken over. Lines are loosening up and edges broken down.

The collection explores the contrast between the proper Victorian elements and a more sensual and sexual side of dressing – the girls revealing their “wild” side. There is that fragility, that frilliness but there’s also a certain roughness in the way things are put together. Colors and textures break into things that were purer. Floral and animalistic aspects find new ways of expression through other unexpected sources of materials. These are clothes for women who roam the wild and living in this dreamscape.

THANK YOU

I would like to thank my family – Mom, Dad and Yai for your never-ending support. Thank you Eric Booth and Jim Thompson for the most beautiful fabrics and Molee Maneechote and Maneesilp for those killer shoes. “Team Bangkok”, Raphaële Lenseigne, Lee Wei Swee, Kristof Dhont and my Antwerp friends. The teachers at the Academy – Dirk, Heidi and Yvonne. Thank you.