IFM BA grad show; Vowels and Kartik Research

In a day of debuts, we caught up with the BA graduation show in fashion college IFM; the launch of Japanese-made marque Vowels, and the premier runway show of Kartik Research.
 

IFM BA Show: En primeur fashion, ‘Ceasefire Now’ T-shirts

Judging a student graduation show is a little like going to en primeur, the annual pilgrimage by buyers and wine aficionados to acquire wine in Bordeaux.

 
One has to taste a lot of alcohol to find the right bottles. Like in Tuesday’s BA graduate show at IFM, Paris’ leading fashion college on the banks of the Seine. There were 31 young talents on display each showing six looks, before they shared a joint finale, each designer wearing a white T-shirt that read ‘Ceasefire Now’.
 
They say a good film should begin with an explosion and then lead up to a dramatic climax, which this show did. Thanks to strong openings by Noah Almonte, a Swiss who dreamed up some cunningly sculpted surrealist outfits in padded nylon and bold checks, and clearly has the design chops to walk into a Paris couture studio. Followed by Théophane Sorin, a French creator whose ruching, technical finesse and absurdist final meeting of plissé silk and mannequins, trumpeted talent. 

While Nika Mocnik of Slovenia’s use of padding and wicked cutting marked out someone to watch in future. As did the technical dexterity and sense of chutzpah – seen in her waxy damsel with Perspex skirt and elephantine penis – of South Korea’s Victoria Yujin Kwon.
 
Honorable mentions for Dani Reto of Iraq’s wacky brides; Gwen Bodiu of France’s claustrophobic gowns; the rather magical cartoon cut-out fantasies of Italy’s Emanuel Simmerle; and especially the volume cowboy cool from France’s Anthony Icones.
 
Plus, penultimately, there was a great performance by Hyeonseo Yoo, a mini-show entitled ‘Today’s Uniforms’ with laudable cinematic panache. 
 
Otherwise, there were times one felt one needed to remind students that the point of the exercise is not to dress an Uzbek goth band when they come 15th in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, so ridiculous were their ideas. They say youth is sometimes wasted on the young, and sometimes fashion schools are too.
 
That said, was this a vintage year in terms of fashion primeur? Not quite 1989 in Bordeaux perhaps, but there was still plenty of talent worth admiring, and acquiring.
 
All of the young hopefuls sharing a finale with two looks, each designer pointedly wearing Ceasefire Now. In Milan menswear this past four days there was not a hint about Gaza. Paris spoke up on the first day of this six-day menswear season, which began today. 
 

Vowels: New York meets Tokyo with street cool vernacular

One brand expanding the fashion vernacular is Vowels, a novel street cool concept that made its European debut Tuesday morning in Paris.

 
Presented in a dusty floor of the Musée des Arts et Métiers, where a cast of 20 strolled about in the Japanese-made collection, designed by Yuki Yagi, an old hand in U.S. street labels.
 
All about detail and craftsmanship in a unisex collection primed with crafty craftsmanship – like the great dimpled cotton cargo pants embroidered with tiny cloth flowers, or the patchwork denim jeans worn with attitude. 
 
Nothing too revolutionary, but lots of smart product – collared knit cardigans; densely woven cotton worker jackets; and great techy splash jackets with a memory, so the touch of a hand changes their color.
 
Tellingly, you could sense that the cast loved the clothes. They said fashion, but not too quietly. A memorable first at bat by Yuki, all the way to the lookbook shot in Japan by Nigel Shafran. Which roamed about Yuki’s granny’s house, the industrial wastelands and the mountains near Tokyo. A vista echoed in the Paris set of tree trunks, stone sculpture and paper flowers. 
 
Vowels does not have a store yet, but instead a research library built at 76 Bowery, in New York’s Chinatown.
 
Its plan: to build a self-sustaining business model, with 100-strong wholesale doors and annual sales of €30 to €40 million within in five years. Backed up by smart techy Indian investors: Ritvik Kulshrestha, his wife Anshita and brother Shivam kulshrestha, this felt like a very strong start for Vowels.
 

Kartik Research: Delhi dreaming near Notre Dame

The day’s third debut was Kartik Research by LVMH Prize semi-finalist Kartik Kumra, and an ode to all things Indian, especially its doughty durability.

Presented inside a beautiful building, the recently restored Philanthro-Lab at the Seine near Notre Dame, this was an admirable meeting of Indian artisans and plucky recycling.
 
The best ideas were a fab array of blazers made of upcycled bed quilts, fine Indian materials with multiple stitching, cut with lots of military pockets. All treated to some great embroidery, a posh hippie sensibility for today.
 
“The point of the idea is to create clothes without using electricity,” explained founder, Kartik Kumra.
 
While his chill sequined embroidery on several linen mini-Nehru jackets was inspired by the jersey designs of the Indian cricket team of 1999, led by legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
 
“He’s the Lionel Messi of cricket,” beamed Kartik.
 
This spring, Kumra opened his debut store in hometown Delhi. This fall, there will be a second boutique on Orchard Street on New York’s Lower East Side. His brand is moving.
 
Even the location felt right, across the Seine from the great cathedral in the midst of recovering from the awful fire. Blending the old, restored and new – just like Kartik Research.