Annoushka wears Gladiator headpiece, knitted thongtard and shoes by Le Tour de Force
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“Personally, I am most inspired by the visual residue of abstract ideas. I have a lot of abstract dreams, which I think influence my work with an element of darkness. I’m not a fan of realism in general, I think it’s very inhibiting as you really won’t ever achieve the impossible if you really believe it is impossible, don’t you think?”
Yes we do think. And hats off to the Gibraltar-born designer who managed to break out of the shackles of conformity, and expand her imagination beyond the realms of suburbia. A seemingly impossible task when growing up on a council estate in Basingstoke – not exactly the cultural hub of Britain.
A CSM graduate with stints at Lanvin, Zac Posen and Johnny Loves Rosie, Roman beat off hundreds of headpiece loving rivals to win the inaugural, ‘Who Wants To Be A Millin-aire’ competition this year.
Ingeniously blurring the colourful lines between graphics and avant-garde origami structures, with a lascivious wink to geometry and a cheeky nod at architecture, Le Tour De Force is leading the cool crowd to the wonderful world of exaggeration; where bigger is always better and fashion and architecture marry in perfect turquoise petal and sunshade pleat harmony.
Exceptionally minimal or extremely complicated, Roman is bringing accessories to the forefront of fashion in an elaborate couture manner; think Parisian glamour meets Japanese abstraction at a Dada jamboree.
If Salvador Dali was to come back and drop the paintbrush to pick up the millenary needle, he’d be called Camille and he’d be hell bent on taking us all on surrealist head-trips, with birdcage hats and silver unicorn horns protruding out of our foreheads.
But it’s not all oversized pink bows and polka dot fascinators, there’s womenswear, in matcy-matchy head and clothing coordinating combinations, bespoke bridal and even trendy tot headpieces for the little people too.
Whilst the likes of Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy are still ruling the millinery kingdom, there’s certainly murmurings of younger modiste royalty next in line to the thrown; to design wearable art that satisfies madhatter sensibilities, simultaneously ticking the drama-with-a-pinch-of-humour box is a mean fashion feat for even the most accomplished designer.
Le Tour De Force, we take our hats off to you.
Insight
SS: If you have to immortalise your favourite food in the perfume, what would it be and why?
Camille: I have NEVER really understood cocoa butter body lotion, for the same reason I don't linger over a deep fat fryer until my roughed-up hair starts to emulate Eau de Chip. Of course that would be ideal if I wanted to achieve the 'full-sensory downtrodden creative identity' that's so constantly on trend amongst the petite bourgeois.
The most fantastically undefinable food taste has got to be a Strawberry Danone Petit Suisse (kids yogurt-style foodstuff in corrugated plastic vessel). There is not other way to describe other than a sort of BOX-FRESH BARBIE, STRAWBERRY POPSICLE AND AN UNEXPECTED HOT WHISPER.
Why? To save the world in 2050.
In the year 2050 I will need to distribute this scent via hologram tannoys across the digital metropolis to remind people of the happy days. These being when the love of plastic was innocent, and materialism allowed us to create disposable shower caps at ease. At this point of course, the world will be making strawberries in bio degradable petry dishes, and our great-grandkids will be taken to giant conveyor-belt vending machines as part of a replacement 'PICK YOUR OWN' scheme. Strawberries will equal credits for holographic deportation trips (great for morale and reminiscing about the days of physical interaction with real objects).
Upon recognition of her own scent, Barbie (plural-on mass) will emerge from the landfills possessed, and on a mission to save all the mechanicalised children. The sudden rampage of tiny barbie tiptoes ploughs the barren landscape just in time for a rainbow to shower skittles, which fall and become embedded into the earth. Trees of synthetic fruity wonder begin to grow, and once again nature is saved and reborn.
Words: Sarah Bonser
Photography: Danny Gaska
Styling: Choltida Pekanan
Model: Annoushka @ Oxygen