The meeting of East and West has intrigued for decades, yet an airport stopover in Asia is perhaps an unlikely place to find inspiration for a collection. Inspiration though can present itself in surprising forms, and sitting in the departure lounge at Hong Kong airport is exactly where Scott Sloan found himself conceptualizing the vision for his latest collection.
Surrounded by incredibly beautiful women, confident in their appearance, yet somehow subservient in demeanor, Scott noticed a captivating juxtaposition. Each woman was striving to recreate Western fashion trends yet ironically, and in some cases unknowingly, presenting a unique style and natural sophistication of their own. And so, the collection thread was born.
Says Scott, “For Western cultures, the 1950s and early 1960s marked a new era of choice and self-expression. Chic fashion classics emerged, as did an array of revolutionary hairstyles and techniques that continue to impact hair fashion today. In particular the dramatic side part, the high chignon, the pillbox bob, the five point cut, the beehive and the Bardot bangs, all of which have heavily influenced the hair direction of this collection.
Half a century later, I see Eastern cultures experiencing a similar transitional era of freedom of choice and self-expression, which was visible on the fashion capital runways through the Summer 2013 collections of Marc Jacobs, Jason Wu, Zac Posen and Proenza Schouler. I felt compelled to explore this trend further… to embrace the merging of Eastern and Western cultures and celebrate ‘freedom of expression’.”
Thoroughly inspired, Scott’s vision for the creative direction of this collection was to evolve and combine the classic Western looks of the 1950s and early 1960s with the natural beauty and unassuming sophistication of Eastern cultures, past and present. Inspired by but not confined by, what has gone before, the iconic styles of these influential eras have been reworked and reimagined to create an intensely raw yet beautifully contemporary series of fascinating images, captured faithfully in black and white vignettes.
Collection Credits:
Hair by Scott Sloan
Photography by Andrew O’Toole
Styling by Mikey Ayoubi
Make-up by Kylie O’Toole
