This past fashion season unfolded with a clash between the tech, feminine and the underworld. From the austere, glossy suits of Salvatore Ferragamo, to the tattoo sleeved models in skin-tight bondage at the DSquared2 show, more and more, fashion is forcing us to focus on the beauty in the darkness.
Every designer from Alexander Mc Queen to Roberto Cavalli have indulged in their dark side at least one time in their careers.
This Halloween season, we decided to highlight a few talented artisans who have made it their life’s work celebrating the underworld and its protagonists. One such designer is London-based Rosh Mahtani. A graduate of Oxford University, Rosh fell in love with Dante Alighieri’s works while she was a student studying French and Italian. Her goal is to create one piece of jewelry for every canto, dedicated to Dante’s fictional journey through the Afterworld. With no formal training Mahtani says she has and “a vehement obsession with the idea of melancholy and imperfection.”
California-based Blythe-doll artist and customizer Gina Soriano, also featured in this issue, says she has a dark soul. Though she is a trained fashion designer (she just recently completed her degree at San Francisco’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, she found her passion in altering and enhancing the wide-eyed, plastic dolls that have taken the fashion world by storm.
It may seem ominous at first blush… but we had a lot of fun in this issue.
Baci,
Sofia
IN THIS ISSUE: Maha Jumaie Taitano: Ethnic Goth in Santa Cruz, Alighieri: Rings of Inferno , G. Baby Dolls: Making the Ultimate Blythe , Alle Tattoo: Fashion’s Tattoo Artist , Halloween Looks by Studio DModa
