We all know that fashion is an open space to try unusual things ranging from materials to technology. That is exactly what Harikrishnan did in his collection. He defied the pre-conceived proportions of clothes and mixed this centuries-old craft with unusual latex trousers that are injected with air creating this super-wide inflatable effect.
Harikrishnan's trousers play with the proportions alongside the piece: while the waist fits precisely, the legs double the width creating an amazing volume, right before shrinking again before the ankles.
This floated balloon effect is possible thanks to a really small inflation valve placed at the bottom of the trousers which pumps air inside them.
To achieve such a nice result as inflated trousers the designer decomposed the regular trousers pattern into 30 individual latex panels, mixing and matching different and contrasting colours.
The idea of anatomically impossible trousers popped in the designer mind while playing with his dog. Imagining how his dog saw him from its perspective and thinking about how he could detach it from the predetermined human's notion about perspective. That is how he brought to life his collection.
His collection is not only about inflatable latex trousers. It was split into three sections – “craft, latex and tailoring” swinging around the main concept of “familiarity versus unfamiliarity”, but for sure what catches our eyes are the unexpected shapes of the design of the trousers: the latex shiny finishes.
The visualization of the shape of the trousers started with a small 3D clay model, which was then cut into fragments and finally made into latex fabric and sewed together in different angles to create the impossible forms.
In order to balance the bulkiness of these trousers the top half of the outfits was designed with slimline cuts or tank tops made of hand-carved wooden beads. To give life to these pieces, Harikrishnan spent some time in an artisan community in India learning their know-how on this technique.
After checking his whole collection we now feel this urge to touch it, try it on and feel those unconventional shapes on our body.
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