Some of you may have noticed that thanks to TJ Studio, an agency that supports emerging fashion and accessory designers, we are currently in Lausanne to report on theTJ Showroom SS13, a showcase for the creative, fresh collections of eleven fashion newbies. After a long day spent having deep fashion conversations, taking pictures and examining every single seam, we bring you our three favourites.
Aiste Nesterovaite
Why are you looking so serous, girl? You did everything right! The young Lithuanian accessory designer, with a cool, iconic haircut, came up with a modular leather bag system that allows the wearer to arrange and regroup single elements to create theirown individualised piece. Snap-hooked leather straps allow the mono-coloured envelope clutches in different sizes and shades to be worn alone or in combination with other bags. We love the idea of separating important belongings from those we never really need by putting them in different purses – as long as we don’t mess up while deciding what goes where!
www.aistenesterovaite.com
Tomohiro Tokita
We don’t want to play into stereotypes, of course, but his bio reads like this guy defines the concept of an overachiever. We definitely feel lazy and uncompetitive by comparison: After graduating from the fashion department of the renowned Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 2010, Tomohiro Tokita returned to Tokyo, where he immediately founded his own menswear label. He also participates in art exhibitions – or so it would seem when we Google Translated his website.
At the TJ Showroom SS13 he presented a sporty and modern high-tech high-fashion collection that looked a bit like a mixture of Raf Simons and Yohji Yamamoto for Adidas. Most conspicuous were his cape-cut denim jackets, decorated wider silver coloured zips, as well as fancy skinny pants textured by three-dimensional graphic elements. We weren’t so sure about him until he mentioned his inspiration for the collection: An old science fiction movie staring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his younger years. Arnie, oh Arnie. You still make it, right?
www.tomohirotokita.com
Luka Maurer
With his bright blue eyes and the friendly looking baby face you wouldn’t imagine Luka Maurer as a man of extremes. But it wasn’t hard to get past the surface to the depths! First extreme: After finishing his studies in fashion design in 2011, Luka moved from his native Switzerland to our heart’s home – Berlin. And can we really believe that he spent all of his time diligently interning to perfect his classic tailoring skills? Second: His completely black premier collection “Manhood Legacy EX ONE”, made for the, er, let’s say modern Zorro, has now morphed into completely white items, now called “Manhood Legacy EX TWO”. “Personally, I prefer the colour black but I was simply curious to see what would happen”, he declared, shrugging. Don’t play games with us, Luka. We know there is a deeper meaning! Third: Come on, how extreme must somebody be to design a vest that needs nineteen single buttons to close?!
www.lukamaurer.com
Bag Collection by Aiste Nesterovaite
White Collection by Luka Maurer
Pants and Jacket by Tomohiro Tokita
Text by Celina Plag
Photography by Jessica barthel
