Introducing new genius

Mary Katrantzou represents fashion innovation. She is the future of design and winning the Swiss Textiles award only solidifies this.

I have always believed that clothes are only a small part of fashion and a true designer knows this. Greek born Mary Katrantzou is a visionary who is able to create art in motion; the clothes are a masterpiece, however, the woman wearing the dress is not just an easel for Katrantzou’s canvas, she is a “liberated spirit with a strong sense of style”.

Mary’s pieces are beautiful wearable items yet at the same time they are imaginative, creative and very surreal. All of her ss2011 dresses are embellished and embroidered intricately and to perfection but most noticeable is the hyper-realist digital print covering the entirety of the piece. The prints and the structure of her dresses were inspired Architectural Digest, World of Interiors, heavily style seventies photography and the expensive and luxurious lifestyle of the rich and famous. The idea was “to put the room on the woman rather than the woman in the room”. Glancing at her collection is like staring through keyholes of the rich and famous. Katrantzou also revealed that she worked in three dimensions to create depth and reality in the garment. More impressive is how she managed to use trompe l’oeil detail to accentuate parts of the design with chiffon and silk flowing like curtains framing her “room”.

All of her collections literally take your breath-away. The attention to detail is incredibly shocking and requires a thorough examination. Mary Katrantzou has definitely imprinted an identity for herself in the forefront of fashion minds. Her talent and individuality is astonishing and unrivalled at the moment. Although, the clothes are truly the work of an artist, they are, at their most basic, desirable pieces of modern fashion.

With prize money of $100,000, Mary can continue to progress and bring digitally manipulated prints to the forefront of fashion. I believe, her signature strongly suggests the direction that fashion is travelling in. Katrantzou has said that “with digital, there is no limitation - you can print a photographical version of anything” As easy as she makes it sound, I’m sure that only Mary’s insight and creativity could produce something quite as magical as her collections. With a “darker yet less thematic” collection to come next season, i can not wait to see what the future has in store for this generation’s genius.