ALBA PRAT

 

 

Alba Prat is a graduate from the University of Künste in Berlin who has caused somewhat of a storm in the fashion industry with her considered minimalism and unique style. Her work is stunningly simple but the contemporary accents that she adds to the pieces bring them right to the forefront of today’s fashion, in a way that is unlike what anyone else is doing at the moment.
          
For her graduating collection, Prat created a range named “Synthetic Oceans”, a project that “represents the transition that the aquatic world experiences mixed with the result of the industrialization era”. This interesting juxtaposition of influences suggests a mixture of fluidity and smooth textures with sharp shapes and angles. Many of the pieces resemble creatures from deep beneath the sea and the amazing shapes in which anemones and coral and such grow. The project focuses on the tons of plastic and rubbish that are discarded into the ocean and how this has such a negative impact on the creatures that live in there. The collection shows suggestions of their adaption processes and how they must defend themselves against threats of the human world. This combination of ideas is evident in the contrast in textures within the collection from flat, skin tight pieces to amazing, structural creations. The collection“Synthetic
Oceans” is a‘cold and dark atmosphere where the beauty of the mutations and the defence mechanisms that its inhabitants embrace is to be seen and the defence mechanisms that its inhabitants embrace is to be seen’.
    
Prat’s second collection has similarities through its minimalist approach, but takes on more of a high fashion look and less focus on textiles. The simple, blank canvas base garments that are none the less impeccably cut are enhanced by stunning neon accessories and features. The collection is inspired by “the cold war children going to school with their leather bags and knitted accessories handmade by their grandmothers.” It is clear that Prat often looks to the past for her inspiration and the history of hers and others’ cultures. The collection juxtaposes traditionalism and modernity through the rustic leather of the accessories that is brought to life by the neon yellow details. There is a sublime attention to detail that looks at everything from childlike mittens to the appreciation of shoelaces and shoe soles. The bright tone is said to reflect the strong spirit of childhood that is sometimes subdued by discipline.
     
Prat is a designer who clearly knows her own design direction inside out and uses simplicity as a powerful tool to convey her ideas in a considered but extremely innovative manner.

Images: Designcollector.net  Trendland.com