This article just came out in Fallen, available from Fat, Magnation, Borders and newsagencies…
THROUGH HIS USE OF GRAPHIC TEXTILES,
ALEXI FREEMAN’S ON-TREND AND TIMELESS
DESIGNS ENGAGE IN A DISCOURSE OF STYLE,
WHICH COVERS ELEMENTS OF FINE ART, ARCHITECTURE AND FASHION.
WITTEN BY EMILIA TERZON
Prehistoric cavemen drew it, Leonardo da Vinci defined it, Andy Warhol redefined it, and Marcel Duchamp pissed all over it. Despite this, in the year 2009 we are still asking the perennial question: What is Art? The average Australian – or, indeed, conservative art critic – may not consider fashion garments or the vernacular of the suburban home as “art”. However, beyond the mainstream toward the creative peripheral, you may find a slightly broader perspective.
Melbourne creative Alexi Freeman is one such voice from within the artistic undercurrent. Although a fashion designer by current profession, Alexi’s work challenges the traditionally separated realms of fashion, fine art and architecture. Through both external collaboration and personal exploration focusing on the recontextualisation of his designs, Alexi’s work continues to tap into the underlying current of creativity shared by these three fields.
Having studied fine art at the University of Tasmania, where he majored in printmaking and sculpture, Alexi’s varied and unorthodox transition to ready-to-wear clothing traces costume design and self-portraiture among his various skills. Alexi eventually chose to graphically represent his innate creativity through a series of life-sized drypoint etchings upon paper and silk; which allowed him to seamlessly merge his interests in fashion and fine art. Produced between 2004 and 2005, The Torso Collection is a manifestation of his fascination with sculptural shapes, and the intimate connection between the body, and organic and cultural environments.
“[The installations] were figurative at first,” explains Alexi. “However, then [The Torso Collection] just became more and more about the garment. The figure just kind of completely disappeared. I then started etching directly onto silk and started making limited edition pieces.”
With public interest in his wearable art bourgeoning, Alexi included the one-off garments in his first collection for SS 06/07. His follow-up collection for AW 07, entitled MONOCHROME, firmly cemented the establishment of his self-titled label. The collection, which introduced his signature “carved” aesthetic, was combined with hand drawn and printed textiles including herringbone silks, gold and silver foil thread and fine gauge wool.
Instant acclaim for his directional designs led to MONOCHROME’s selection for the DEBUT stand at the Fashion Exposed trade fare in Melbourne that year. This opportunity led to the award of a covetable Arts Victoria Travelling Grant to participate in a design workshop led by Haute Couturier Maurizio Galante.
Alexi’s designs are informed by his studies in fine art as well as his professional background: evidentially it appears that once an artist, always an artist. In today’s loudly digital, consumed and mass produced age, it is refreshing to meet a creative who simply wants to sit down and draw. “Throughout history people have been drawing,” Alexi notes. “It has only been in the last 100 years or so that people have been doing fashion as a specific [form of] design. Fashion is always going to be part of a larger picture, [but] I think that if I just draw and work in an intuitive way, then there is more chance of actually coming out with something truly creative and artistic.”
This intuitive method has ensured Alexi’s designs sit beyond the grasp of mainstream trend. In an industry increasingly influenced by the idea of celebrity and internet blogging, Alexi is a rare designer who confides “[there] are too many trends for me to figure out what they all are!” Anything but compartmentalised, the designer has found his own distinct style, tailored to compliment “modern women who are enamoured by the past, but lust after the future.”
This incorporation of progressive designs combined with “a total nostalgia with the past” is referenced through the label’s chosen logo. Applauded by math geeks worldwide as the most magical symbol in existence, the infinity motif was selected because it “references an idea of timelessness and continuity.” Delving into fine jewellery production, the designer first released a representation of the symbol in sterling silver rings and necklaces for his SS 08/09 collection, Nautical but Nice.
Following the international attention associated with his AW 09 Criss Cross collection, Alexi is most widely recognised for his application of bold graphic prints as well as modish, urbane tailoring. Following a string of accolades for this range, Alexi was commissioned to design uniforms for Tourism Victoria, as part of their campaign to market the state as Australia’s style capital.
The edgy result drew heavily upon Alexi’s instantly recognisable silhouettes and prints characteristic of Criss Cross. This minimalist aesthetic continues in SS 09/10, with the selection of a lush melon palette set against opulent, monochromatic fabrics including double mesh panelling and subtle silver threading. Versatility and functionality are also key factors; realised through the archetypal soft, summer silhouette. “I’m really trying to incorporate things in to my collection that can be versatile, and that can be worn trans-seasonally,” Alexi says. “This is good for the modern woman who may be out all day, and doesn’t necessarily want to go home and get changed before going out after work or from the gym.”
While each piece is undeniably beautiful, the garments were not crafted just for their pleasing aesthetic. “Being functional and practical is something I keep in mind,” Alexi says. This is achieved through textiles that allow natural ventilation of the skin, such as diamond mesh and cotton. Other pieces designed by Alexi
such as an oiled cotton black trench – consider waterproofing as a design objective. “An architect bought that piece, for she was going out on site and was getting rained on, yet didn’t want to wear a horrible raincoat,” explains Alexi. “Being functional like this is something I keep in mind, and I guess it does mean that I have somewhat of a niche and a selling point.”
Bucking an increasing industry trend for off-shore production, the Alexi Freeman label is manufactured locally in Melbourne. Many items are labour intensive, including an 80-piece reversible coat that takes 17 hours to hand produce. The smooth, one grand price tag placed on this item is justified when the investment of time and quality is considered – particularly when compared to the often inflated price-tags of mass produced labels. “I am really trying to price myself into the market,” says Alexi. “I’m trying not to go too high as it’s only early days!”
Alexi has extended his collaborative breadth throughout 2009. For the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) Cultural Program, he partnered with avant-garde label MATERIALBYPRODUCT. Their collaboration was an exercise “in the exploration and promotion of hand processing techniques” in contemporary fashion design, and resulted in the reinterpretation of Alexi’s fluorescent geometric flapper motif.
Not limiting his genuine creativity to the fashion genre, Alexi has collaborated on several projects with Aaron Roberts, director of Tasmanian architectural house Room11. Entitled AFAR, their partnership has produced futuristic and tangible manifestations which investigate how a two dimensional patterns – such as Alexi’s signature flapper motif – may become a voluminous spatial construct. The duo’s recent July show as part of the Victorian State of Design Festival attempted to “find happiness in repetition.” This, Alexi laughs, is allusive of the physical work demanded by the acetate base installation. “We had to cut that whole work out of sticky tape by hand. It was very repetitive!”
The art installations produced by AFAR have attracted widespread press and public interest due to their exploration of the underlying similarities between fashion design and architecture. For both Alexi and Aaron, collaborations such as these allow “another way for both of us to explore our creativity.” It appears that as long as individuals such as Alexi Freeman continue to explore, the boundaries which are placed upon the essence of creativity will continue to erode.
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