harald lunde helgesen is the name behind new menswear label hlh … harald, 24, was born in norway and graduated from the arts institute in bournemouth (england) this spring … his final year collection entitled “autumn/winter 2509 bc” earned him nominations for fashion innovation and fashion textiles awards at the london graduate fashion week; it was also selected for the 24th international festival of fashion and photography in hyères (france) where its designer was bestowed the crystallized swarovski elements award for creativity by a jury lead by kris van assche and including personalities such as jefferson hack from another magazine, artist nan goldin and fantastic man’s gert jonkers …
“fashion has the scent of the modern wherever it stirs in the thicket of what has been … it is the tiger’s leap into the past”
the quote by walter benjamin from his thesis on the philosophy of fashion, serves as a good introduction to the collection … with “autumn/winter 2509 bc” the tiger leaps all the way back to the very beginning of urban civilization – to sumeria in modern day iraq … through excavations of the remnants from this 4500-year-old culture, bridges are built across massive spans of time … links are also tied across different cultures when western archaeologists work next to locals at the excavation site … the near east has always been the great junction of the world … people and cultures meet, crash and interact … traditions and ideas are passed on and absorbed in new contexts … all this is made crystal clear when examining the dress of the locals from the perspective of ancient time and the global culture of today …
the collection plays on sumerian sheep’s fleece ‘kaunakes’, eastern salwar kameez inspired trousers and western/global fashion staples like the levi’s 501 jean and denim jacket … the colours all have an origin in brown; like the archaeologist sifts through layers of earth and sand, brown markers have been separated through chromatography to find the beautiful treasure of bright colour spectrums hidden underneath …
and because those clothes really deserve some closer attention, a few detail shots taken during the hlh installation @ the kokon to zai store in paris last june …
