Savage. Mythical. Dramatic. I could very well be describing the emotions felt during Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring", but our story takes place a hundred years after the conception of the ballet. We're specifically talking about Paula Cheng's already widely acclaimed collection: "The Beast Within".
For those of you who don't know, Paula is a New York-based designer extraordinaire. A graduate of Parson's Fashion Design Society MFA, she has already made lips chatter and fingertips flutter for her indubitable talent at numerous awards, including winning the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty competition and finalist at both Feel the Yarn (Florence) and International Talent Support (Trieste).
"The Beast Within" was presented at the ITS competition earlier this fall, and is a remarkable example of what Paula's talent and continuous research is capable of. With this collection, exclusively sponsored by Italian luxury yarn company, Lanifico Dell’Olivo, she demonstrated that knitwear is should not remain a practical and rigid subject when it comes to unleashing creativity. Taking knitwear from it's roots, she developed precise techniques to get the specific results she was after. Like Stravinsky, who was declared futuristic in his sounds, she gives us a taste of what avant garde knitwear should entail - setting a benchmark for other knitwear designers and fans.
It is clear that the constructive deconstruction, capable of creating coherence amongst the looks, and the silhouette-driven theatricality determined this collection a winner even before it was ever exposed to the world. However, Paula's work has left us longing for more. As to whether her first commercial collection will pick up where The Beast left off, only time will tell.
Oct. 28, 2013
Scuola Politecnica di Design
Beckmans College of Design
University of Cincinnati
Harrington College of Design
LOFT 42
SBID
