We got the chance to look at Teatum and Jones new and exciting ss12 collection as well as meeting with one part of the fantastic duo Catherine Teatum at LFW last month. After the dust settled from yet again another hectic fashion week we got the opportunity to interview the designers behind this creatively innovative brand. So here it is !
What does fashion mean to you and your brand?
Everything. We sacrifice time with our loved ones to spend the majority of our waking hours creating our brand and laying out the brand’s future.
What made you want to become a fashion designers?
We met whilst working together on menswear and became enamored with one another’s sense of escapism. We are both besotted with the power of a story and drawn to both romance and tragedy, which leads us to seek out beauty and refinement in what is ordinarily considered sinister or dark. We are also fascinated by human behaviour and exchanges, as such the Teatum Jones signature is within our anthropological approach to design and fashion.
What are some of your accomplishments as designers?
We were part of the 2009 finalists group for Fashion Fringe, which made us very determined to go on and succeed. Our second AW11collection was the first time we took our brand to retail and we were picked up by stores in four major international territories; London, New York, Dubai and Jeddah. We were approached by the long standing fashion icon Annie Lennox to create a bespoke dress for her from our debut SS11 collection to be worn at a high profile Charity event organized by the HRH Prince of Wales. For our third season we were given an On Schedule slot at LFW for which we held our DebutSS12 Presentation at the prestigious RSA on the Strand.
What do you believe makes a quality article of clothing?
1. Authenticity in an intelligent design concept
2.A respect of craftsmanship towards manufacturing and production.
2.A respect of craftsmanship towards manufacturing and production.
What's your favorite part of being designers?
The impulsive and instinctive way that next seasons ideas start simmering away as soon as
we have shot the look book to the currentcollection….its a weird juxtaposition because we’re stood selling current season whilst discussing the music for the next show or event!
The impulsive and instinctive way that next seasons ideas start simmering away as soon as
we have shot the look book to the currentcollection….its a weird juxtaposition because we’re stood selling current season whilst discussing the music for the next show or event!
What does the future hold for Teatum and Jones?
Our LFW events will become ever more interesting and deeply intertwined with the collection’s theme. We want to further expand our retail presence in the US and the Middle East, the latter of which is a very interesting and directional market at the moment and for next season we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we are going to be able to collaborate with an incredibly talented shoe designer, talks have already begun!!
This ss12 collection looks at sentimental perfections of 1950 American suburbia and the darker side of life behind those pastel coloured walls. Delving deeper the collection is mainly designed around a story of a vibrant young couple swept away by a dream of perfection and the reality of what happens when that artificial dream expires leaving you with nothing but your own surreal and frantic desire to escape. We are treated to a carefully considered and applicated mix of masculinity and femininity. Traditional mens-wear tailoring details such as lapels, pockets and vents were manipulated and altered in size, creating surreal proportions. Feminine fluid silk dresses played a huge part in this collection all effortless, elegant and unique in pattern whilst using a strong, escapist, cloudy, surreal collage narrative print throughout. We loved the combination of mens-wear detailing throughout this womens-wear collection along with the beautiful prints which made the collection truly irresistible. Their preeminent capped shoulder dresses engineered to fill with air to illustrate the vast expanse of a surreal and escapist landscape, was the main winner for us which clearly took clever engineering and development which is hugely apparent throughout this SS12 collection.