Wham, glam, thank you, ma’am! Back in February, Mary Benson, one of the three participants of Fashion East’s Fall ’15 class,
made a winning case for the power of a little stardust. The designer,
who cut her teeth with an internship at Alexander McQueen, served up a
collection that dazzled with its playful, Technicolor debauchery. Among
the metallic “stained glass” prints she’s made her signature were a
spray of gold coins and a fawn vomiting up rabbits or the word gorgeous—some
kind of fairy-tale acid trip gone deliciously wrong. There’s a certain
Westwood-y verve to Benson’s clothes that felt well served by her
presentation format, a fantastical punk tableau where models lounged
rakishly in face paint amid neon signs. “I really wanted to make a
statement and create some kind of wild dream collection,” said Benson,
“so it was a great platform to show people my work and to give my
audience the most lurid introduction to my world.”
Her world is surely a compelling one, and for all its fantasia it is grounded in wearable silhouettes (sweet peplumed tops and spruce tailoring) and some decidedly real stuff. Per Benson: “[My aesthetic is] lively and feminine, dreamy and illustrative, surreal, melodramatic, a bit strange, and, most important, it’s extremely personal, as the majority of my inspirations are of dreams and feelings, however good or bad, weird or wonderful.” That vision is one that has resonated with style stars from Rita Ora to London nightlife icon Princess Julia. When asked what A-lister she’d most like to see in her pieces, Benson’s response of Jennifer Lawrence comes as a bit of a surprise. But while the brand’s bold looks are a far cry from J-Law’s often demure Dior, there’s no doubt a certain kindred sensibility between the no-holds-barred starlet and the designer’s vision. (For our money, the label’s stage-ready flair and keen mix of darkness and light seem almost tailor-made for FKA twigs.)
While for now you’ll find Benson’s designs exclusively at ShowStudio’s London concept shop Machine-A, a new batch of stockists is forthcoming for fall.
Her world is surely a compelling one, and for all its fantasia it is grounded in wearable silhouettes (sweet peplumed tops and spruce tailoring) and some decidedly real stuff. Per Benson: “[My aesthetic is] lively and feminine, dreamy and illustrative, surreal, melodramatic, a bit strange, and, most important, it’s extremely personal, as the majority of my inspirations are of dreams and feelings, however good or bad, weird or wonderful.” That vision is one that has resonated with style stars from Rita Ora to London nightlife icon Princess Julia. When asked what A-lister she’d most like to see in her pieces, Benson’s response of Jennifer Lawrence comes as a bit of a surprise. But while the brand’s bold looks are a far cry from J-Law’s often demure Dior, there’s no doubt a certain kindred sensibility between the no-holds-barred starlet and the designer’s vision. (For our money, the label’s stage-ready flair and keen mix of darkness and light seem almost tailor-made for FKA twigs.)
While for now you’ll find Benson’s designs exclusively at ShowStudio’s London concept shop Machine-A, a new batch of stockists is forthcoming for fall.
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