And I thought I'd share my 1000 words for anyone who wanted to know a little more about this genius!
I bring you the modern day Vivienne Westwood
(WITH A LOT MORE NEON)
...
CARRRIIIIII MUNDANEEEEEEEE
Cassette Playa is the fashion label of English fashion designer Carri Mundane. After graduating in fashion design from Westminster University she has worked with several people including M.I.A., Dizzee rascal, Patrick Wolf, Afrikan Boy and Boy Better Know and has presented her work four times at MAN as part of London Fashion Week. In 2002 she was nominated best menswear designer at the British Fashion Awards alongside Christopher Bailey and Alexander McQueen.
Mundane as well as a fashion designer has been a contributor and stylist for i-D magazine and has collaborated with Dazed and Confused Japan with her designs having been worn by Rihanna, Nelly Furtado and Nicki Minaj. She likes working with magazines which represent youth culture as they are ones which pick up on things really early. She has also collaborated with Nike for a computer game and the capsule collection and also concluded with a limited edition blazer which allowed access to a different audience however it was also seen to be about technology and innovation. Moreover she has been commissioned by Nintendo DS for the My Sims game. Her work has been presented in the Fashion V Sport exhibition at the V&A and she herself has appeared in the 2010 6th series of the Apprentice. Being a menswear designer, what inspires me greatly is Mundane’s first ever women’s project with Stussy, because as she has said it shows what she can do. Her creativity is never ending. A brilliant Fashion Designer or any designer to me is someone who can be moved out of their comfort zone and willingly work towards extremely popular outcomes to not only be sold out online but also to be worn by Celebrity’s. Nevertheless Mundane has said she “only wants to collaborate where there’s a connection between the brand and Cassette Playa”.
Although being very successful now, Mundane has said that she has always had an interest in fashion but more in the styling aspect over the fashion side. She is interested in the way people dress. “I see style as symbolism and I’ve always been interested in sub cultures. I decided to make a brand because it’s like art on a mass level, it reaches more people. I like the way everything is so accelerated in fashion”. She has also said that her favourite season from Cassette Playa is the first season show SS07 (LSI). It was all about circuit bending and was the first time she experimented with digital print which is now a big part of Cassette Playa so is extremely influential and has made her want to create more videos.
My clothes are quite cartoon but I don’t have the intention of making people look funny” said my Mundane. Being retro or ironic is something she is adamant that Cassette Playa is not! Nevertheless she is influenced by: 90’s skater fashion; Japanese anime; African prints; neon; 90’s rave; animals; science and science fiction. Bernard Wilhelm; Jeremy Scott; JCIDC; Raf Simons; Vivienne Westwood; Kim Jones and Nigo from Bathing Ape are Carri Mundane’s greatest inspirations. She is inspired with artists who have links with street culture. She believes Nigo is “ultimate at building an iconic brand and has changed the way street wear is seen”. Grime music used to inspire Mundane greatly however she believes there are only a few artists out there who are still innovative: “Wiley are Dizzee are still producing good music despite having gone mainstream”. Grime initially inspired her because of the producers for example Ruff Sqwad had some amazing producers: “They didn’t sound like anything else and are very British”. Music is a great influence on Mundane. She says: “I can talk about music way longer than fashion”.
Music as a core area of inspiration towards fashion is something I can relate to, especially music such as Hip-Hop. Labels such as Cassette Playa aren’t made to go along with demands of the mainstream public, and neither is Hip-Hop music. On the other hand they reflect more emotion and personality and are a lot more unique and difficult to get perfected. There is a lot more energy, knowledge, creativity and bravery needed. Bold statements are made in such designs and music causing a lot of debate which I find extremely interesting. With Hip-Hop a story behind lyrics and real life experience is what makes a successful song. With designs that don’t follow the high street or high demand of buyers, a story of somewhat will be behind the creation and ideas and there will have been real life inspiration. However brands such as Cassette Playa are not the only one’s which have links with music. All designers require inspiration, be it something fashion related or something completely odd such as sea life or rain. Writers of the greatest songs also need inspiration. Be they a composer or a lyric writer, inspiration is needed to get them flowing and without the inspiration in both cases; the process and final outcome will not be as interesting as the outcomes with an inspiration.
“Life is like a computer game. We are all characters in our own game fighting to get to the next level. This is the uniform of that game”. This is a quote of Mundane’s that I found extremely interesting. As mentioned above all designers need inspiration and a good design will have a story behind it. The idea of a computer game is Mundane’s story which amazes me incredibly! What is even more inspirational is her having had given her designs a purpose and using them not a way to make men “look like big girls, in fact forces them to be bigger men”. Cassette Playa is a distinctive label which I am incredibly inspired by. The use of colour, reasoning and bold idea’s is extremely eye catching and is definitely an angle of fashion that I would love to experiment with however with Womenswear. Today’s fashion market is in great need for unique designer’s like Mundane, as standing out is becoming less a taboo and more a trend.
Arrivederchi
Love Hana
xo
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