contrast & contradiction: 2011

Wednesday, 16 November 2011

Great news! David Jones will be selling Lover the Label created by Susien Chong and Nic Briand

I'm so pleased Lover are a great success after and after 10 years in the fashion world they are now being sold in David Jones. To keep there business growth in control they have only previously sold to boutiques but now finally David Jones have realised what a great brand Lover is!

Susien Chong and Nic Briand of Lover - Vogue UK Article

Lover
Designers Susien Chong and Nic Briand

What are your backgrounds?
“Susien studied Fashion and Textiles and I studied Fine Arts. It wasn’t until we had been working in our respective fields for a few years that we started to get a sense that we could go out on our own. There was no grand plan to the last ten years - it has been a very organic process from the growth of the business to the evolution of the design.”

What were your major influences for this collection?
“The two cultural reference points were John William Waterhouse's paintingHylas and The Nymphs and a story from Chinese Mythology called The White Serpent. Both deal with seductive beauty. We wanted to take that idea, but make it modern. We see modern femininity as a play on masculine/feminine. A lot of people see the lace in our collections and think that label is very whimsical. However, we have always had a tomboy element running through each collection. Some our greatest heroes - such as Patti Smith, Annie Hall and Charlotte Rampling - have played with these opposites.”

Thursday, 21 April 2011

Monday, 11 April 2011

Perfect Print

Susien Chong and Nic Briand of the fashion label Lover based in Sydney

The above photos are the work of Todd Selby of The Selby. They were taken at the home of Susien Chong and Nic Briand. I'm not sure why but we don't see many images of these two.

I love the story of Susien Chong and Nic Briand starting their fashion label Lover at Bondi Market in 2001. It's an inspiration to all young fashion designers.