RIGHT:
Dragovoja Horn. BELOW: Deconstruction
from Patricia Lie. THIRD ROW: Selma
Karaca. BOTTOM: Very futuristic:
designs by Wilson Tijuatja Widjaja from Indonesia.
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In the category for the Gen Art Design Vision
Award for Avant-Garde, it was equally as competitive, but the
battle was won the moment the first design from Montreal’s Jade
Devangelis’ Sculpt Messyah Couture collection came on
the runway. Skender Dragovoja and Otto Horn’s (of
Dragovoja Horn) sculptural approach design was an early favourite.
Brooklyn’s Patricia Lie’s elegantly deconstructed eveningwear
designs (witness her naughty-but-nice sheer pleated top) likewise
caught my fancy. Selma Karaca’s ‘Egyptian Maiden on the Nile’
high concept designs were slightly underwhelming and Indonesian
Wilson Tijuatja Widjaja’s Pop Art paper doll designs were
a bit too close to the iconic Victor & Rolf æsthetic for
their own good.
But Ms Devangelis’s high art Goth design defines
the raison d’être of the category. She is known for
her use of leather, sheet metal and a variety of technical processes
to achieve a graphic, uncompromising, apocalyptic look that incorporates
the world of haute couture and netherworld fetish fantasies.
The Perrier ‘Bubbling Under’ Award for Design
Concepts—‘the Elements’ was given to Kansas State University
Senior Meleesa D. Lorett; and the Gen Art Design Vision
Award for Accessories was granted to Brooklyn’s Nicole Landaw
for her Nicole Landaw Jewelry line.
Corporate sponsors and supporting award sponsors
for the competition included Acura, Boru Vodka, Ecru New York, L’Oréal
Féria, Red Stripe, Target, Stila Cosmetics, Perrier, Project
New York/California and SoBe Adrenaline Rush. •
Phillip D. Johnson is features’ editor of
Lucire.
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