WHEN BEA Valdes says she is inspired by nothing when she creates something, it is not said with an air of arrogance or snobbery. In the vein of true craftsmanship, it all starts with material.
“I don’t see the big picture at first,” says the artist/designer who starts the creative process by examining what she has at hand, then proceeds to construct or “build,”as she puts it, a creation.
Where it goes, nobody knows. Not even she, until the material takes on a life of its own in Bea’s hands—she positions it, tweaks and tumbles it, combines it with other materials, even deconstructs it until it morphs into something that is, in the designer’s eyes, a feasible notion she can develop. Then that something takes shape.
The new collection, “The Burden of Silk,” pieces of which were launched in mid-October this year in Paris Fashion week, is a rare glimpse into the designer’s craft.
Spaces, shadows
From the idea’s momentum comes “the building at the edge of spaces, crafting shadows, finding the intersections of these yet non-existent pieces. From the nucleus of these imaginings, we spin out our embroidery—some vegetal, some slick, some floral suggestions.
Crystals traverse imaginary paths, silk strings collapse and streak along the tulle...” as the description of her creative process goes.
The concepts, translated into objects of desire, aside from the accessories she is already known for, are astonishing shawls or vests or scarves that can be worn in many ways, some of them unimaginable until they are put on.”
“The pieces are taking over the body,” muses sister Marga, who handles Bea’s marketing.
The description of the work: “We prey on organic transformations, on changelings, on hybrids, ideas of adornment.”
A vest of athletic ribbon shaped into florals, perhaps the most casual item in the collection, is not spared the elegant complexity. A similar dressier version in gold fabric, rolled, then encased in black tulle recalls the use of corded lace in a Valera gown.
Swarovski
Swarovski beads and crystals, ever present in a Bea piece, are placed in stunning combinations for a clutch bag in flamenco and coal. (Since 2007, Bea has been handpicked by Swarovski to represent Asian design.)
Yards-long tassles are wound and bundled in Turkish knots on another clutch in rich chocolate fudge brown, first diagonally, then the opposite, creating a pattern reminiscent of Punjabi turban.
Bea has never been satisfied with the usual acceptable color combinations, even in her initial offerings that looked like Don Luis Araneta’s candy-colored-beaded Christmas balls.
In this collection, she opts for “grown up colors,” not one color definable, each deliciously off: toffee, camel, amber, fog, ash, pewter, eggshell, mist, indigo, pearlized robin’s egg, flamenco.
Sequins are sewn in differently, adequately described as a non-traditional lateral application. The result is a furry silhouette from afar and up close, a tight pattern of minute fish scales. Very tactile, delicate looking but sturdy.
One particular bag of understated elegance makes use of faceted brushed alloy beads, something of a pale verdigris hue, surrounded by charcoal-colored tiny pearls, forming a reticulated effect, similar to the art deco diamante negra jewelry of the ’20s.
Tallulah Bankhead
The unusual combination of short feathers, the shade of soured milk and pale ice colored teardrop beads that gently sway around the bag opening, with the bottom of tiny eggshell colored sequins, is a perfect Tallulah Bankhead accessory.
Since 2005 when her oversized and now much copied) “statement neckpiece” was noticed by major fashion accessory arbiters, Bea has found a place alongside fashion legends as Lanvin and Balmain when she was named one among the Top Five Designers of the Year by the JC Report in 2008.
There have been collaborations with shoe designer Christian Louboutin, jeweler Justin Giunta, 2009 CFDA Awardee for Accessory design; and lately, with New York fashion house J. Mendel.
For all the international recognition, Bea chooses to stay in the Philippines, running her workshop in Manila, where her senior artisans mentor the newer ones, keeping the quality of craftsmanship at a high level.
For the labor and time-intensive work that goes into every piece, she sees the importance of maintaining a creative environment.
Bea the brand
Carmen Busquets, co-founder of Couturelab and Net-a-Porter, the world’s leading luxury fashion retail magazine online, and who has worked with Bea since 2006, says of her: “Time is luxury and this is its skillful and artful expression—the indulgence of creating something tantalizingly unique and meticulously crafted.”
Today, Bea’s name is a brand. As she says, “it is not just about me.”
Between her, her artisans, the people who support her like sister Marga and mother Pamela, there is no gap, as intentioned by the brand name “beavaldes.” One word. No gaps in between. It has become one solid enterprise.
Ms. Busquets observes: “What Bea has been able to successfully accomplish is the creation of a new niche in the market for the kind of work that she is known for—couture, bespoke items. This expertise has firmly placed her in a category Luxury Fashion Accessories, that did not even exist in the Philippines five years ago.”
The thing about crafts people like Bea Valdez is that there is really no simple way to construct things. Complexity and layering seem to be the only way about it. Whether it is bringing back favorite materials such as long black resin beads and reinterpreting them to fit into a new creation, or adaptively re-using unlikely materials like athletic ribbon, the process does not stop there.
She doesn’t limit her shapes to fashion accessories. In 2008, she mounted an exhibit of unusually beaded animals in a collection she called “Bedtime Stories.”
Of her creative process Bea says: “It’s like a spider building it’s web,” as she expounds on a quote by A.S. Byatt—“This need is like the spider’s need who carries before her a huge burden of silk which she must spin out.why, what can she do but make more, spin afresh, design anew.”
And like Bea’s stunning pieces, no two spider webs are ever alike.
”The Burden of Silk” unfolds on Nov. 11 hosted by Firma at Greenbelt 3, with sponors Moet, Ayala Malls, HSBC Premiere and Restaurante Pia y Damaso.
(source:lifestyle.inquirer.net)
No comments:
Post a Comment