Preen at London Fashion Week
We caught up with IOM Arts Council funding recipients Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi from Thornton Bregazzi after the success of their fashion show "Preen" which was held at "Heaven" nightclub during London Fashion Week and which included unusual range of models for the show.... ballet students from The National Ballet School.
Thea and Justin are Manx, growing up and educated on the Island.
For over two decades, Preen has evolved from a small boutique in London’s Notting Hill to a global brand stocked across 5 continents and an industry insider favourite. Regularly featured in leading fashion publications and broadsheets, Preen has also collected a loyal fan-base of famous faces, with stars from Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Bosworth, Beyonce, Rihanna, Cate Blanchett , Naomi Watts and Emma Stone to the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duchess of Sussex and former First Lady Michelle Obama repeatedly stepping out in their designs.
Please tell us about your show:
We looked at British youth culture.
The Post punk fall out, skin heads to art school new romantics, modette’s and Blitz club kids.
When art as an aesthetic principle collides in genres, we enter new realms when we break the structure to recreate and combine classical ballet with youth culture and add a club mix, as also depicted in Michael Clarks early works with his collaborations with Leigh Bowery, this set our stage and as we shone a light, we saw a path to creating this collection and inclusive show. We also show our alliance with our friends by supporting venues that create safe spaces for the LGBTQI+ community in London.
Tell us about your project:
We chose to hold our first London Fashion Week catwalk show for two years this February and this was only possible due to support from the Isle of Man Arts Council. The show was a collaboration with The English National Ballet School , the amazing Ballet students were our models and they performed a special choreographed dance by Monique Jonas. The venue was Heaven one of London's oldest night clubs.
The fashion industry and VIPS were packed into the auditorium, lit with glowing red lights and a mystical haze , the atmosphere was electric. A deeply emotional specially commissioned piece of music by composer Yasmina Dexter was playing and as the spot lights came up models appeared at all side of the floor sanding still like statues , then all of a sudden they broke into the most magical dance, The audience were silent through out “mesmerised” and “magical” , “this was a very special experience ” were just few of the comments we received. The show was listed at number 4 in Vogue's top 11 London shows and in the top five London shows by Impression magazine. The show has been covered in The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian as well as Vogue UK and US and many online publications world wide.
How did you use performing ballet dancers in the show and what challenges did you face crossing the two art forms?
The dancers were our models, it was amazing working with them as they are all different body shapes and they needed to really move. The biggest challenge was making sure the dancers could move and the clothing worked with their movements. We did many fittings over the month before the show, going to the rehearsals to try out looks see how they moved.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to pursue a career in a fashion?
You have to really love fashion and are really not afraid of hard work, its such an amazing industry and the possibilities are amazing. There are so may options in fashion, not just a designer. Try to gain as much work experience as you can in all aspects of the industry till you find your passion.
How did the Isle of Man Arts Council help you?
The funding from the Isle of Man Arts Council meant we could put the show on , without it there would have been no show. The Fashion industry has suffered greatly due to the pandemic. This support will help us in part to begin to move in more positive direction. A show really helps to promote our brand and brings attention to our designs world wide.
Find out more about Thornton Breggazzi via there website and social media :
https://preenbythorntonbregazzi.com/
https://www.instagram.com/preenbythorntonbregazzi/
https://www.facebook.com/preenbythorntonbregazzi
You can find out more about the show from one of the invited ex students from UCM in another article about "Preen" coming soon!
