ZeitBlatt Fashion Magazin Ausgabe 1 / 2018

The lifeblood of this young label is Malone’s detailed,
sensitive observation of femininity. The designer cares
deeply about women – about their minds, their rights,
and as a result about dressing them in clothes which
are at once transformative yet entirely functional.
Malone graduated from Central Saint Martins’ BA
Fashion Womenswear in 2014, where he was awarded
the prestigious LVMH Grand Prix scholarship. His
graduate collection opened the year’s BA Fashion
press show and was awarded the Deutsche Bank
Award for Fashion, previously won by Christopher
Kane.
Soon after graduating Malone launched his
eponymous line with an independent presentation for
AW15. Richard was then scouted by Lulu Kennedy’s
Fashion East – who he presented his SS16 collection
with. Richard stayed with Fashion East for a further
two seasons before moving on to present his AW17
and SS18 collections as part of the NEWGEN scheme
with the BFC.
Malone’s unique style takes great inspiration from
sculpture. Nearly all of his research is conducted
primarily by engaging in his surroundings, taking much
of his inspiration from Ireland’s rebellious workingclass
teens. In a knowingly tawdry colour palette of
‘supermarket‘ blue, green and yellow – the
brazen colours he is endlessly enamoured by –
Malone frequently explores what he designs as
‘weird contrasts.‘
As noted by Olivia Singer for British Vogue,
‘One of Malone’s remarkable talents in his
ability to translate inspiration found in his
hometown of Wexford, Ireland – this season,
the diverse mix of women he would see at the
local pub – and translate them into elegantlyconstructed
garments that are simultaneously
sculptural and easy to wear.‘
Whilst progressive, the collections are deeply
rooted in reality – Malone works with a number
of private clients (many are art industry
executives or gallerists) on one-off
commissions, and as such spends much of his
time developing a deep understanding of what
his audience really want to wear.
Malone is an advocate for sustainable fashion.
Sourcing the yarns for his collections from the
Himalayas, he works with a community of
female artisans in Tamil Nadu, Southern India,
to hand- weave the fabrics and dye them
naturally. Malone is strongly against the mass
production involved in the fashion industry.
Gayeon
completed the
acclaimed MA
Fashion
Womenswear
course at Central
Saint Martins in
2013 under
Professor Louise
Wilson. Working
in London and
New York for
several luxury
labels including
Marc Jacobs,
Gayeon gained
valuable
experience and
knowledge of the
luxury market,
which led to the
launch of her
own label in
2014.
Gayeon has been
chosen to
collaborate with
Swarovski for
both the AW18
and SS18
seasons, and
also won the
Vogue Talents
award in 2016..
FASHION WOMENSWEAR
FROM
GAYEON LEE
Photo / BFC British Fashion Council