The World is Flat

Fashion design

Playing on the trend of pop stars being fashion icons and their music videos being like fashion shows, Antoine Peters decided to do the reverse by launching his SS2011 collection with his own pop song and music video.

By Editor Design.nl /asdf 15-07-2010

No standard catwalk presentation this time for Antoine Peters: the cheeky designer decided to launch his SS2011 collection in his own way: with a pop song and music video in which he does the singing.

Peters' new collection 'The World is Flat' is inspired by pop culture, designer fashion-wearing pop stars and an individual view on how fashion should be presented. The collection comprises dresses, executed in comfortable fabrics and flattering, graphic silhouettes which can be worn in different ways. Unusual combinations of jersey, jogging and satin fade the line between day and evening-wear, a style Peters describes as 'one-size-fits-all-elegance.' The focus of the collection is an oversized 2D colouring-in page inspired by vintage Vargas drawings, which is coloured in with make-up.

Instead of presenting the collection via the usual runway route, Peters created a pop song and accompanying music video. "Pop-artists wear designer clothes more and more. Their videos even sort of look like fashion shows. Take Kylie Minogue, Beyonce or Lady Gaga for example, and often they even start their own clothing line too. I liked the idea of appropriating this trend and turning it around! To be a fashion designer with designer clothes who creates his own song and music video!" Peters is the singer in the song too. "Doing the song was great! I didn't have any experience in singing, even not in the shower. But it was also terrifying, because I didn't want it to become just a gimmick, but a real good quality pop song too."

The idea behind the video reflects upon the changing way that media that is used to show fashion, in particular, the speed and reach of the internet and fashion blogs - and the associated new PR opportunities - which the next generation of fashion designers is tapping into. The style of the video plays upon the flatness of images seen on TV and internet, and also shows the details and construction of the clothes which is more difficult to notice on the traditional catwalk.