Wearable Art Blog

Papusza Couture

 
Photo by Bethany Antikajian

Kaytee Papusza, of Papusza Couture, is a young fashion designer and artist who lives and works in New York City. She creates fashion from a very personal place. Taught and encouraged by her seamstress mother to sew, ideate and create, Papusza has been designing her own fashions since childhood. Papusza thinks of fashion as art. Her work is conceptual, inspired by darkness, taxidermy, and psychological horror films. Each dress in one of her collections is a "character" with its own story. Read my interview with Kaytee Papusza to find out more about her inspirations and see some incredible fashion.

Fordite Jewelry from Tamara Gentry

Can you tell what colorful materials Illinois-based metalsmith Tamara Gentry uses for the center of these pieces? Try fordite, also known as Detroit agate. Fordite is made of old automobile paint which has hardened enough to be cut and polished. These pieces are from Gentry's fordite collection, which pairs fordite with gemstones and sterling silver. The television (left) can be worn as a pendant or brooch. It's capped with yellow and blue sapphires. The gorgeous wide square cuff bracelet below is made with fordite, gold and silver. I love the look of the fordite patterns combined with the silver. Gentry's next collection will feature stones as the centerpieces of the work. You can see more at Tamara Gentry Design Studio.

Susanne Williams 2010 NICHE Award Winner

Susanne Williams won the 2010 NICHE Award in the Surface Design category for her crinkle leather satchel last Friday (February 12). The NICHE Awards annually recognize excellence and innovation in North American craft. Williams makes highly textured bags using distressed leather from 'vegetarian' cows that she transforms by creating crinkles, ruffles, and coiled rosettes.

 

Crinkle Leather Satchel

Williams opened her leather studio and showroom, Willi Nilli, in Fargo, North Dakota in 2005. She recently moved to a larger studio to handle the the demand for these funky bags. In addition to making bags, Williams has been a part-time artist, creating paintings out of acrylic, watercolor, and ink.

 
Rose Garden Clutch

The bags also come as boxy totes and some have shoulder straps. I like the thick leather and sculptural designs, especially the coiled rosettes (above) that make the bags so distinctive. How about you?

  

 

Sustainable Jewelry by Yilin Choo

Inspired by the belief that luxury can contribute to the sustainablity movement, Yilin Choo creates beautiful jewelry out of flawed stones and reclaimed precious metals.

Yilin works with the Karen hill tribe artisans based in northern Thailand, a traditionally marginalized group, in order to preserve their centuries-old art form and support their economy. Yilin says, "This business model, in the long run, will hopefully eliminate the need for charity, not only for them, but for other marginalized groups all over the world."

Large agate with solver branches and sapphires. Chain has labradorite cabochons and fresh-water pearls.

Yilin does the designs and the Karen artisans create them using traditional methods in metalsmithing. Yilin believes in using 'free-form' gems, meaning that the stones are cut according to the lapidary artisan's preferences, resulting in one-of-a-kind shapes and 'organic' asymmetry. I bet this is why I like her work so much -- every piece is so unique, based on each artisan's technique. This kind of production model, with a talented designer working with indigenous craftspeople, is a growing phenomenon in the world of wearable art.

Jade bangle embellished with 18 carat yellow gold/black rhodium vermeil and sapphires. 
  
Even though Yilin is has started offering a ready-to-wear line that features adaptations of some of her custom hand-forged work, she will continue to create pieces on request. I love her choice of stones and hammered metalwork. I hope that she thrives so that she can inspire other jewelry labels to follow in her footsteps. You can see Yilin's work for sale at Cate.

Susan Freda's Wearable Sculptures at Couture Fashion Week

While New York Fashion Week may get more publicity, Couture Fashion Week is taking place in New York on February 12-14. Couture Fashion Week showcases the work of independent designers who don't work for the major fashion houses but who still create some pretty amazing collections.

One of the many events taking place at Couture Fashion Week is a fine art display, including some intricately crafted wire dresses by Rhode Island artist Susan Freda. Like the dress pictured here (left), Freda's hand-woven dresses are made from one continuous strand of wire! After weaving, she fuses the dresses with glass, resin, or tree sap. Freda has been making these striking pieces since 1996. 

When I asked Freda what inspired her to make dress and shoe sculptures, she said, "I am/was inspired by a range of things like body armor, natural architecture: wasp and bird nests, and bodily systems like neurological structures, arteries, veins... I like to make organic looking structures out of industrial and recycled materials."

 

If you go to Freda's Website, you can see some close-ups of the dresses and how the resin forms little droplets of pretty colors.

Freda also makes pastel colored shoes and boots from resin. Check out the tall boots (below) which are made out of resin and butterfly wings. I love that her work is so elaborate and beautiful, too. You can see more at Susan Freda.