by Rachael Oku

FLIK Hall

Under the SEA

A designer who has been impressing fashion editors with her striking prints since the conception of her eponymous brand in 2009 is Flik Hall. A Central Saint Martins graduate who worked for House of Holland before setting out on her own, Hall’s forthcoming offering for SS12, takes her trademark aesthetic for movement and print and juxtaposes it with luxury of the highest order.

Flik Hall’s SS12 collection film is created in collaboration with Ashley Joiner:

Inspired by the eroticism relating to the form and ethereal symbolism of the octopus and cecaelia; prints feature extreme close-ups of octopi skin and twisting tentacles, utilising a variety of textures to take on a life of their own. Using British-sourced fabrics, the effects are spellbinding: leather is emblazoned with eyelets to take on the guise of octopi suckers, while printed leather deftly appears transformed into lace, featuring punched out holes seductively exposing the wearer’s skin. Silhouettes are narrow and fluid, structured and free.

Clever use of materials such as Neoprene further enhance the consumer’s notion of their relationship with the water, playing upon the senses and bringing the collection full circle, demonstrating a marriage between civilisation and the natural world.

Cacophonies of colour intermix with gentle shades; peach, orchid and lilac sit alongside harsh yellows and slate blues. With all manufacture taking place right here in the UK, the results are dynamic and edgy. A romantic collection in the true sense of the word and a heady mix of fantasy, Hall’s designs represent femininity at its most potent.