Bonaveri Magazine

You presented the Spring 2019 and Fall 2019
collections in NYC with the poetry of two
installations of suspended bust forms custommade
by Bonaveri. How and when did you
“meet” them?
I first heard about Bonaveri through Emma
Davidge who I have worked closely with for
many years. I was blown away by the incredible
craftsmanship and refinement of the Bonaveri
forms. Bonaveri has been making bust forms
since the 1950s, which happens to be my
favourite era of design. It felt like the perfect fit
to achieve my vision in creating a truly modern
and beautifully considered installation.
Why the choice of an installation with
mannequins and bust forms instead of a
fashion show?
I have done runway shows for my entire
career. While I love the energy and excitement
of a fashion show, I wanted to do a special
installation format for the 2019 seasons. The
idea of stripping away everything, and putting
the focus solely on the clothes felt vital to me. It
was about going back to the basics, and why I
became a fashion designer - to make beautiful
clothes! Through these presentations, I fell in
love with my job all over again.
learning of fashion and an important foundation. My
first sewing experience was making a dress for my doll
when I was 10!
My background in the doll industry, where I often
worked on the actual forms of the dolls with mannequin
sculptors, has helped lend a much more sculptural
component to my designs as well as attention to
minute details.
Are dolls still a visual reference for you that perhaps led
you to choosing bust forms for the your presentations
and your visual in stores? Or am I way off the mark?
You are not off mark as designing dolls was my first
career and so you can see a lot of that jointing and
intricately engineered parts as something quite
familiar to me. The beautiful wood finish with the
meticulous muslin covered body and the pale gold
hardware was the perfect sartorial message for the
collection. Those bespoke details are a testament to
the exceptional craftsmanship of Bonaveri artisans.
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Bonaveri has collaborated with Jason Wu realizing a
mix of suspended and floor Sartorial bust forms, also
supplying heads for a few of them.
What about the behind the scenes of these
presentations?
It was important to see what worked best on
the bust forms so we did a lot of fittings with the
forms. Concentrating on the smallest details
was especially important as the garments had
to be suspended and inspected closely. Every
garment needed to be perfectly crafted.
A step backwards. You have studied sculpture
in Tokyo, and you have learned how to sew by
making doll dresses. And you also developed
your “Jason Wu Doll” collections later on.
That’s a very nice and unexpected background!
I guess you still like dolls! Do you collect them?
I do have an archive of some of my favourite
dolls that I have designed with Integrity Toys (an
American company producing innovative dolls,
editor’s note). Dolls were a catalyst for my early
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