Kiwi designer back in black
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MAARTEN HOLL/The Dominion Post
MAKING HIS OWN WAY: James Dobson is a self-taught fashion designer.
Red-rimmed eyes, severe slicked back hair, heavy clogs and black metal. That was the scene for Jimmy D\'s fast-paced show at New Zealand Fashion Week that made the hairs on the back of the neck stand up.
These harsh elements contrasted with the oversized diaphanous silk tops, dresses summer 2011 black dresses printed with the phantasmagorical artwork of Auckland artist Andrew McLeod, evening dresses that billowed bat-like about the models as they moved.
It was hauntingly beautiful and one of those \"moments\" fashion editors will recall when asked what was special about winter 2011. New York stylist Derek Warburton summed it up best, describing it as \"the most pure show artistically\".
The collection, entitled Until The Light Takes Us by the 31-year-old Auckland-based, Upper Hutt-raised designer has also inspired a short film. Upcoming film-maker and photographer Oliver Rose approached Jimmy D designer James Dobson to do the film after documenting the backstage action at Fashion Week. The film, which runs for just over five minutes, stays true to Dobson\'s vision of a Goth-girl muse.
Catwalk theatrics are all very well but, more importantly, Dobson\'s clothes are wearable. Wellingtonians, men and women, have particularly responded to the range, thanks to Dobson\'s unisex approach to designs that can be worn many different ways. He had to restock the racks at The Service Depot in Lombard St for the recent Wellington launch of the collection because it had sold out.
The proportions of many of the garments are what Dobson likes to describe as \"drippy, oversized and top heavy\". These are juxtaposed by body-conscious panelled dresses dresses , 80s sportswear references and punk detailing, custom made wedding gowns custom made wedding gowns where low, arm-holed singlets, racer backs and bum flaps are reinterpreted.
\"I\'ve also played with thigh-high splits, and this idea of loin cloths,\" Dobson says.
\"As the collection progresses cocktail dresses cocktail dresses, these splits work their way more and more into garments, emphasising this idea of chaos.\"
Psychological inspiration points for Dobson include cult 80s vigilante film Ms. 45, formal wear dresses 90s angst-ridden teens and the richly symbolic world of Norwegian black metal album artwork.
Dobson was introduced to the latter by artist Andrew McLeod, whose work has been digitally printed on to many of the garments. McLeod is also a member of band Evil Ocean, whose music Dobson used for the show and now also provides the soundtrack for Rose\'s short film.
The collaboration arose from a conversation between Dobson and McLeod.
\"Initially I had this vision of a Metallica-Goth-girl, black dresses \" Dobson explains.
\"I imagined her wearing a printed band T-shirt and deconstructing that in various ways. I\'d seen Andrew\'s work and his incredible band T-shirts. I approached him and talked about my ideas. He introduced me to the world of Norwegian black metal.
\"There is a consistent theme that runs through the artwork of that scene – lots of bracken and trees.\"
Two of McLeod\'s detailed artworks have been digitally printed on to garments in the collection, which have become collectors\' items. Initially, Dobson planned to screenprint them, but when he saw the detail, digital printing was the only way to do them justice.
It\'s not the first time Dobson has introduced a dark element to his work, although he calls it \"tongue-in-cheek\" darkness and a black sense of humour.
Dobson has a bachelor of design in photography from Massey University, but when it comes to fashion design he is self-taught.
His brand has consistently grown from strength to strength since his debut collection, Glasgow Kiss, won him top prize in the Mercedes-Benz Start Up Award in 2005 and a place on the catwalk at Australian Fashion Week.
At the time, NOM*d designer and judge Margi Robertson praised his work as \"cohesive and well thought out\".
Australian Fashion Week and his spring-summer 2006 collection, Dead European White Males, was Dobson\'s catwalk debut and since then he has showed at New Zealand Fashion Week.
Dobson has succeeded in maintaining a strong brand presence through the strength and individuality of his work. He was one of only seven New Zealand designers to be included in Mitchell Oakley Smith\'s fashion anthology, FASHION: Australian and New Zealand Designers.
He also made it into the elite group of 25 designers included in fashion curator and author Angela Lassig\'s impressive tome strapless short dresses strapless short dresses, New Zealand Fashion Design published by Te Papa Press.
More recently, Dobson has been putting his energy into establishing his store, cocktail dress Children of Vision, in St Kevin\'s Arcade in Auckland\'s Karangahape Rd.
He is focusing on bringing interesting, previously unseen, international labels into the shop, which also showcases his own brand. \"It feels like the right time to bring the focus back to my own label, summer long dresses summer long dresses\" Dobson says.
- The Dominion Post
