artPLAY designers- Chrishabana SS19

artPLAY FASHION DESIGNERS…LETS START PLAYING

CHRISHABANA is a New York based jewelry brand, since it’s debut in 2008, the label is known for taking punk and tribal iconography and refining them into lux, stream lined pieces. In recent seasons, Chris has been exploring the idea of taking sterling silver and molding them into subversive orbits and spikes, while softening the pieces with pearl accents. The result is a daring line fit for boys, girls, and everyone in between.

CHRISHABANA S/S19 PRESENTATION

photo by Andrew Morales www.intagram.com/LifeInReverie

CHRISHABANA SS19

This event marks the first presentation we have done for our own brand in 4 years. In recent seasons we have been working with other designers to come up with collaboration pieces for their own brands. This time around we were approached by CALA and Next Century to mount a show that featured our own work, while celebrating our 10 year anniversary (yes we have been at this for 10 years now!). We jumped at the chance to show at their venue and launch new pieces to show what we can do as a collective studio.

To mark our anniversary and to celebrate our past work, while combining it with our future vision, I designed the collection to reflect our past Goth and Punk roots, as well as our present and future Sci-Fi minimal aesthetic. I wanted to the presentation to feel subversive, striking and bright. We wanted to add a bit of sexuality to the collection so we took the idea of sex toys, balls, ball chains and quite literally exploded them into oversized ball chain pants, corsets, and nun habits. I worked with Vex Clothing on the pagan printed latex pieces and me and my team integrated them with the metal pieces. The ball chain was balanced out by the aggressive and refined barbed wire chain link pieces within the jewelry collection. Religion and Sex is a combination that I have always been attracted to. I think the clothing and jewelry was such a seamless mix of the two.

We also took this opportunity to launch our new foray into eyewear. We have created 2 styles in 2 colors – the Slant and Blind Mice. The models wore representations of the eyewear which again, reflects our own unique aesthetic.

The casting was curated by me and my team. We wanted to make sure that while we wanted to celebrate diversity as we have done since 2008, we also wanted to make sure that the casting didn’t detract from our aesthetic. There are quite a few brands that really champion inclusivity. While we are strong advocates of this, I personally wanted to not lose the aesthetic and direction of our own brand. It is crucial that designers stay focused and realize that in the end, we all want to make beautiful pieces and our message should be woven in what we make on top of what we say. Everyone in the cast is connected to us in some way. Jazzelle is a friend future collaborator (we are creating eyewear with her in the near future), Melanie and I have been in constant communication to work together on a project. Brooks and Nandi have become new models and friends with us as we love their look and Aleta has been a long time partner and was featured in our last Fight Club campaign.