Hip Beat
Hip Beat is based on the collision of the randomly selected subcultures of the Beat Generation and Hip Hop. Both subcultures are about one’s intellectual property and how they express themselves verbally, with the tension between each other’s humour and seriousness shining through.
Indoor Photography by Melissa Nyquist. Outdoor Photography by Isabelle Saxton. Cinematography by Stella Collins. Modelling by Emily Frisch, Carter Graves, Grace Kayar, and Asher Gillman.
Designed and constructed by Isabelle Saxton from September to December 2018.
Common threads with Hip Hop fashion are MCs self-promoting with photos of their faces and names on clothing, extremely oversized forms, and dollar signs. The latter not only depicts materialistic attraction and distraction, but also my initials (I + S = $).
The Beat Generation is centred around a lifestyle of finding self-fulfilment. Therefore, the crucial element of Hip Beat, for me, is the sustainability measures that I took to make this collection. My garments are made out of recovered waste fabrics and yarns and organic yarns.
The Hip Beat look merges colourful oversized silhouettes with simple, baggy forms and sombre colours.
Cinematography by Stella Collins.
The words in the machine-knit jumpers are derived from the random passage of thoughts from brain to mouth. The sentences are obscured so that certain words grab the individual viewer’s attention for reasons unique to them. If the viewer did happen to read an entire sentence, they should be able to interpret it in at least two ways:
“I want it to shake my soul.”
“Drink more.”
“I can’t believe this is really happening.”
“The lights are vibrating.”
“I am fine.”
“When will we be in our right minds?”
Black, white and grey yarn
Green Line
100% organic Merino wool
Made by Jagger Spun based in Springvale, Maine, U. S. A.
Global Organic Textile Standard certified
Blue yarn
Queensland Collection United
55% lambswool
45% cotton
Non mulled wools
Made in Turkey
Confidence in textiles. Tested for harmful substances.
Fluorescent yellow yarn
Recovered by FabScrap in Brooklyn, New York
Pink yarn
Annabel Williams
100% Folkland Merino
Naturally hand-dyed with madder root
Made in the U.K.
Responsibly sourced wool
Dark blue and striped fabric
Recovered by FabScrap in Brooklyn, New York
Red fabric
Recovered by FabScrap in Brooklyn, New York
Naturally dyed by Isabelle Saxton with organic red cabbage and baking soda
Pink Fleece
Sourced from Riverview Fabrics, this fleece is made out of recycled plastic bottles collected from the streets and canals of Haiti. The supply chain is managed by Thread International.
Denim
Patchwork of jeans found at a Savers second-hand store in Providence, R.I.
