Despite my love for the Fashion Fringe competition and the winners it has produced (Erdem, Basso & Brooke), I somehow bypassed all coverage this year and also missed the show at LFW. Shame on me as the finalists were very strong indeed. Based on the initial sketches, I had my money on either Aminaka Wilmont, the design duo, or Dejan Agatonovic who hails from Belgrade. It was Wilmont that won and although their collection was strong, I wasn’t as stunned as I was by Agatonovic’s collection. Using the rosary bead as a design feature, he snakes simultaneously floaty and structured dresses with silk covered beading details. He has also injected a enchanted Medieval element into the collection and I was absolutely besotted with touching the detailing when I saw Agatonovic’s work at Rendez-Vous in Paris. The short-haired wigs and the slight out-of-this-world quality of the pieces may have alienated the panel (and sponsors including NAP…) a bit which is probably why he didn’t win.
Still, second the best definitely applies here and though Agatonovic didn’t scoop the award and get the prize of having his work retailed at Net a Porter, with previous job offers from Balmain, Stella McCartney and Alberta Ferretti, I’d love to see him do great things all by himself or for a fashion house.
Fringe was fantastic this year! I was rooting for Aminaka W and was elated when I heard they’d won, Aminaka even cried! How sincere!
I went to the fringe show and thought 100% that Dejan should have won. I was not such a fan of the winner’s collection, i thought some of their hooded parkas fairly unremarkable.