Emiliana Pontonutti at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2016

'Unlocked' by Emiliana Pontonutti at Heritage exhibition at FASHIONCLASH Festival 

"Unlocked is a research inside the concept of beauty and fetish via the hair. The reason that leads me to investigate this material comes from the natural properties of hair. It may be a seductive element on the head but at the same time it has the ability to create disgust or perversion when viewed as waste, for example in the mouth, in the bath drain or on the floor. My research into fetishism, artefacts, surrealism and beauty have resulted in a multiplicity of objects and conceptual shoes. Some have been developed into “wearable” shoes while others are produced solely as functional art objects.

My work aims to overturn the classical idea of shoes through the introduction of innovative and extreme materials, creating objects and shoes with specific functions where human hair is the vehicle. The resulting objects serve as an example of new functional possibilities in the approach or in the construction of shoes. Through this process I tried to visualize how objects can become an element on a shoe while others are made to be more sculptural artefacts."

Emiliana is an Italian footwear designer based in London. First she did her BA in Fashion Design in Italy at I.U.A.V and later she specialized in footwear completing her Master degree in Footwear at London College of Fashion in 2016. Emiliana is fascinated by anything that stimulates her imagination and constantly in search of new emotions.

Photography by Team Peter Stigter

HAIR! Human hair in fashion and art

HAIR! Human hair in fashion and art, exhibition on display at Centraal Museum Utrecht until 29th of May 2016.

This fascinating exhibition shows how human hair is a returning source of inspiration for designers and artists. The tactile experience of human hair gives a real and at the same time a surreal image. Use of human hair can be considered controversial, but at the same time it creates a striking aesthetic in contemporary art.
Hair can be associated with disgust but at the same time as delicate subject of adornment and beauty. Exactly this contradiction makes the exhibition experiences  fascinating.
The exhibition HAIR! provides multidisciplinair variety of works, sometimes very explicitly and sometimes very subtle so that is wonderous.

Go and have a look!

http://centraalmuseum.nl

Human hair necklaces by Kerry Howley

Attraction/Aversion is Kerry's award winning graduate collection, winning the Museum of Domestic Architecture's Arthur Silver Award for graduate innovation and excellence. Attraction/Aversion is a material exploration of how people can feel seemingly opposing emotional responses simultaneously.
The necklaces are made of human hair, a familiar material that we take pride in. However once off of the body hair becomes an innate source of aversion. Kerry wanted to see if she could make discarded hair attractive again. Through the familiar form of a necklace, and using patterns and symmetry that are instinctively pleasing, Kerry has created a delicate balance between the viewer/wearer’s feelings of aversion and attraction.


Kerry Howley is a contemporary jewellery artist recently graduated with a First Class BA Hons Jewellery and Accessories degree from Middlesex University. She is fascinated by the power materials have to influence our emotional response to jewellery, with a particular interest in how these emotions can be conflicting.


http://www.kerryhowley.co.uk