@SUPRIYA_LELE / Courtesy of PR
SUPRIYA LELE FOUNDED HER EPONYMOUS BRAND IN 2017 FOLLOWING HER MASTERS DEGREE FROM THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART IN 2016. THEMES IN HER WORK FOCUS AROUND AN EXPLORATION OF THE FEMALE FORM VIA A PERSONAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN HER INDIAN AND BRITISH CULTURAL IDENTITY. SUBVERTING ESTABLISHED NOTIONS OF INDIAN FABRICATIONS THROUGH UNCONVENTIONAL MATERIALS RENDERED LUXURIOUS, LELE CREATES A LO-FI AND DYNAMIC APPROACH TO LUXURY. FOR AW17 LELE DEBUTED WITH A STATIC PRESENTATION WITH FASHION EAST IN THE TATE TANKS, SS18 IS HER SECOND SEASON WITH FASHION EAST’S SUPPORT.
DESIGNER A SAI TA LAUNCHED HIS BRAND ASAI WITH FASHION EAST IN FEBRUARY 2017. A CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS GRADUATE, TA WAS HEADHUNTED FOR A POSITION AT KANYE WEST’S YEEZY A YEAR INTO HIS MASTERS COURSE BEFORE EVENTUALLY RETURNING TO LONDON TO LAUNCH HIS LABEL. HE DESCRIBES HIS WORK AS ‘EXPLORING THE NUANCES OF HIS BRITISH-CHINESE-VIETNAMESE CULTURAL HERITAGE AS A FIRST-GENERATION LONDONER’. TA TAKES THE FAMILIAR AND RECONCEPTUALISES IT, ZEALOUSLY DISTRESSING WITH HIS UNIQUE ‘INTERLOCKING EMBROIDERY’ TECHNIQUE. ASAI’S DESIGNS ARE PROUDLY MARKED WITH THE INSIGNIA OF ‘ANTI-PERFECTIONISM’. SS18 IS ASAI’S SECOND WITH FASHION EAST’S SUPPORT.
MATTY BOVAN / Courtesy of PR
MATTY BOVAN GRADUATED FROM CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS IN 2015 WITH AN MA SPECIALISING IN FASHION KNITWEAR, HIS FINAL
SHOW EXHIBITING HIS SCULPTURAL KNITS EARNED HIM THE L’OREAL PROFESSIONNEL CREATIVE AWARD, CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY THE LVMH GRADUATE PRIZE 2015. BOVAN HAS SINCE WORKED WITH BRANDS INCLUDING LOUIS VUITTON, MARC JACOBS AND MIU MIU. YORK-BASED BOVAN DEBUTED HIS FIRST COLLECTION ON THE FASHION EAST CATWALK IN SEPTEMBER 2016 AND CONTINUES TO PLAY WITH SUBVERTING TRADITIONAL PRECONCEPTIONS OF GOOD AND BAD TASTE, CREATING ONE-OFF UNIQUE PIECES OF DELIBERATELY CLASHING KNITTED, CROCHETED AND WOVEN TEXTILES. THIS IS BOVAN’S THIRD SHOW WITH THE SUPPORT OF FASHION EAST.
Fashion East is a non-profit initiative set up by Lulu Kennedy and the Old Truman Brewery in 2000 to support emerging British talent. The scheme has launched & nurtured designers through it’s womenswear and menswear scheme ‘MAN’ including: Kim Jones, Jonathan Saunders, Roksanda, JW Anderson, Christopher Shannon, House of Holland, Gareth Pugh, Simone Rocha, Marques’ Almeida, Claire Barrow, Ryan Lo, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Ashley Williams, Louise Gray, Craig Green, Wales Bonner and more.