VIGILAMUS - BFC Show space, 180, The Strand. AW18
- Submitting institution
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Leeds Beckett University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 10
- Type
- K - Design
- Open access status
- -
- Month
- February
- Year
- 2018
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Vigilamus investigates what happens when a fabric associated with primness – Houndstooth tweed – is used to convey feelings of romance. Bovan’s garments are more redolent of a mystical other-worldly character than the demureness with which this pattern is often associated, woven at such enlarged scales it is awakened to new possibilities.
This is taken to apocalyptic extremes, fabric edges left ragged, fake furs decorated with black paint to suggest roadkill. Researching the history of tweed, Bovan identified chunky yarns to give this geometric pattern a rich earthiness, further enhanced by taffetas, velours and teddy bear furs. Combining handmade and cutting-edge technologies, the knitwear is raw, woven and knitted panels in various colours and textures that meet at ‘off' angles, ridges and spines further queering the silhouette associated with Houndstooth. The colours of the North Yorkshire Moors predominate, adding atmospheric effect, the grid of the tweed sometimes contrasted with bleached denim.
Sponsored by Wool & the Gang, Marc Jacobs and British Fashion Council, Vigilamus featured in ID magazine; Love magazine; Dazed; Vogue; Financial Times; New York Times Style Magazine; and the Elle List for 2018. Paul Flynn headlined his Evening Standard feature ‘How Matty Bovan became one of the UK’s most exciting and subversive designers’; while The Guardian’s cover story described Bovan as ‘Fashion’s great bright hope’.
Vigilamus is a breakthrough for Bovan, whose work is characterised by an ability to unlock the repressed romance that bubbles beneath all conservative styles. This is reflected in his nomination for The Fashion Awards 2018 in the Emerging Talent: Womenswear category, an annual award celebrating individuals who break new ground globally, transforming the possibilities of fashion. Vigilamus featured in Beazley Designs of the Year, at the London Design Museum, 2018, while the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, purchased two looks from the collection.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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