Behind the SCenes: Formative

Today, FIA gives you a behind the SCenes look at one of our student designers, Formative. Check out the exclusive interview we had with designer Anita, Ali, and Elaine!

Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from? Where do/did you study?

Formative is designed by Anita Wong, Ali Chen, and Elaine Kwong all of whom are 4th year architecture students at USC. 

 

Tell us a little about your line- vision behind it, theme for this season's collection, designer influences, etc.

Formative is a fashion line that was created to explore the common principles that underlie fashion and architecture. Both disciplines are derived from the human body and consequently, its movement. We aim to create a living environment for the body, based on volume, proportion, function, and material. Our process is an exploration of fashion as an architectural, morphological process and a rethinking of its design. 

This year our collection takes a minimalistic approach to the tectonics of framing the human body at a personal scale. The process views the idea of fabrication in a literal sense, creating an assemblage of fluid material parts that function as practical, usable, and wearable objects. 

How would you define your personal style?

Anita: For my personal style, I don't really find myself too much of a colorful person- I usually find myself sticking to neutral colors like black, white, beige, browns, and olive greens with either simple patterns or no pattern at all. Good staples for me are oversized sweaters, sheer tops, black heels (big fan of low ankle boots with wooden heels), large rings, black jeggings, etc. And I always try to throw something fun into it like add some fur, a bold orange or dark red lipstick, ear cuffs, etc. 

Elaine: My style is defined by how I feel on any given day. On days where I feel a little grungy, I would pair a pair combat boots with a big oversize sweater. Another day, I would feel like taking out my classic Chanel purse and styling up an elegant ensemble. I love all the trends and styles from the past to modern today. I tend to mix them all and add/subtract things to give it that distinct juxtaposition, but my style is far from a "complete look". I tend to add certain arbitrary elements to help throw things off a bit. 

Ali: I try not to define my style. But if I had to describe it it would be laid-back, cutesy, and retro. 

Who are some of your favorite designers and why?

Some of our favorite designers include Alexander Wang, Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, Jonny Johansson, Jack McCollough,  Lazaro Hernandez, Junya Watanabe, Gareth Pugh, Viktor Horstings & Rolf Snoeren. The reason why we love these designers because their individualist styles have made major statements on how clothes truly embrace the structure of the body. Each detail, although simple, speak miles. 

When did you realize you wanted to become a fashion designer?

For us, architecture is our priority and passion. Fashion design is our hobby that we use as a tool to grasp the ins and out of the fashion industry. We would like to understand how we can involve our architectural skills into the fashion industry, such as, display design, visual merchandise, fashion show design, etc. So when we realized our versatility was when we realized we wanted to become fashion designers. 

Where do you get your inspiration?

Life. anywhere and everything. All it takes is attention to the things left unnoticed. 

What is the general process you go through from designing to actual clothes?

The general process from which Formative usually designs clothes is come up with a statement or a general place where we want to draw our inspiration from, whether it be the concept of folding or transparency, then draw sketches out and keep refining from there. Usually with each piece on the runway, there are usually at least 3-4 failed pieces behind it. 

What advice do you have for aspiring designers?

For the aspiring designers out there, we suggest you guys to understand the path to design is never linear. Every piece that is out there on the runway has had many predecessors. Always have a clear vision and stick with it. 

 

Where do you see your company going forward?

Although Formative began has our brainchild, we hope to expand our concepts and design to other shows as well. But with that in mind, what's most important to us is not driving Formative as a business but expanding it as an instigator of design thinking. 

 

Any changes/differences/things you wanted to stay the same from last year's collection?

Compared to last season, Formative has truly gone long ways in understanding fashion and the natural characteristics of clothing and its movement. And since last year's line was so provocative, we decided to take it back and embrace minimalism as we see through architecture and fashion. Minimalism has long been in our vocabulary as architects and this season will truly be our expression of minimalism as a practical, usable, and wearable object. 

 

Any other information you'd like to share?

We try to keep our fans posted about what inspires us and simply what's on our minds- so check us out on formative.tumblr.com or follow us on twitter @FormativeDesign