It was Lady Gaga fashion meets The American Civil war over at the Prophetik Autumn / Winter 2011 show at London fashion week.
The collection was influenced by the opulence of the Louis XIV era leading to bell sleeve dresses, corsets, tailed jackets, and military detailing.
The show by the Tennessee poet and designer, Jeff Garner, saw models sent down the catwalk to a small orchestra and a solo by violinist Analiza Ching.
Materials were all sustainable and made in Garner’s hometown of Franklin, an old Civil War town. Organic cottons and corduroys, hemp, flax and “Greenspun”—which comes from recycled bottle were prominent.
Known for his ethical approach to fashion, Jeff used naturally dyed fabrics and also reused old materials.
Ripped silks and organic velour sat alongside 100-year-old southern quilts – handed down from Jeff Garner’s great grandmother Lola, lovingly referred to as Grandma Garner in Tennessee.
One of the jackets in the collection is even crafted from the quilted bedspread from Jeff’s bed as a child.
Thick and heavy hemp skirts sweep the floor and a new fabric introduced this season is cactus silk, made from the agave plant.
Prophetik’s show-stopping finale dress was made from ostrich feathers, which are naturally shed twice a year, hand stitched onto silk.
Livia Firth sat in the front row. She recently wore a Phophetik creation when accompanying husband Colin Firth to the Golden Globes.
Garner, who started his career in the music industry, moved into fashion eight years ago, when he launched Prophetik. He has dressed many of America’s top music stars including Cameron Diaz, Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Kings of Leon , and the Jonas brothers.
“Renaissance Art is not a rebirth as one implies, but freedom from the past, unconcerned with what has been said or done, living in the present with an immediate relation to all things…seeing and feeling and discovering the senses. Achievement does not birth beauty but raw effort confessing its own failures and in that confession is the beauty of art.”
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