What happens when the head twirling words of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" meets high fashion? I'd say a nostalgic and quite haunting collection! A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of having my latest collection photographed by the talented and amazingly friendly, Heather Perry from Vintage Slang.
When asked about my collection in an interview that would be presented prior to the runway show, I said, "An Angelic, Haunting woman clearly scarred by tragedy at first glance." The one thing i kept in mind while creating the collection and dreaming up the woman who would one day slip into the clothing was the assumption that Poe never liked the predictable or normal. I also constantly asked myself, what must have the woman he felt such grief and loss for been like?
While keeping a traditional shape to the pieces, the modern styling and finishings represented the "never ending grief and love" Poe so strongly emphasized in his work, as well as serving as a modern embodiment of "Lenore."
Skirts made of raw silk were tightly gathered and flared to mimic the shape of a flower, a popular symbol associated with Edgar Allan Poe stories and the women he described within them. Evening gowns consisted fitted sheaths with a cloak draped over revealing a soft and delicate back. i wanted it to appear as though she was rising into the ground, but also leaving a haunting image as she walked away. This was an ode to the symbolism used in the poem where Poe refers to a "seraph" usually found in christian mythology. The bare suggested Poe's use of the word "Aideen" aka the Garden of Eden. Bare skin was something I thought was something very identifiable with Poe's reference.
I find taking the works of a legendary writer as well as his ancient references to then evolve into a wearable piece of art, evoke a certain ambition and desire to continue to create such things in order to set an understanding for the past as well as create an open and exciting new path for the future which is very much what I as an artist, blogger, and designer am about.
- Jorge G. Alvarez
Photographs by :
Heather Perry
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