Dancing Ahead

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Screenprinting Was it incredibly patronising and naive when I showed distinct surprise when I found out that a graduate I met at Graduate Fashion Week had already made plenty of progress by being an accessories designer that was stocked at Kabiri and had done installations for Topshop? 

Ah well… probably and in which case I apologise to Jessica Dance profusely.  But to say that I couldn't hide my shock when I found that Jessica Dance, who I knew of from her installation work at Topshop, had only just graduated this year from the Arts University College at Bournemouth in Fashion Studies, is an understatement.  I think my mouth was so wide open three flies flew into it.  Nice.

Dance therefore is a stellar example of students getting proactive with their own label and own endeavours whilst still studying.  At GFW, she ended up being a runner up in the Mulberry Accessories award and won the Creative Marketing award with her multidisciplinary project that accompanies her latest accessories collection "Couture Creatures", one of them is snaking around my neck in this picture here. 

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Her collection is currently stocked in Kabiri, for whom she created installations in Selfridges and in the Marylebone High Street store…

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Each brooch, headband and necklace is hand made by Dance herself and features a very endearing sleeping eyelashed eye and isn't really recognisable as any one particular animal as such but still, there's something incredibly cute radiating off each piece…

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The multi-displinary strand of Dance's project comes to fruition in this video here, a stop-frame animation conveying the work that goes into creating each 'Couture Creature' as well as emphasising that any strand of design work is not a 9-5 job.  let's count the number of all-nighters you guys have pulled in order to finish things and let's count the cups of tea/biscuits/Red Bulls that have been consumed.  The second video is a behind the scenes video of the pretty set creation which is a paper replica of Dance's studio…

Going back to how I first knew of Dance's work though…. together with her creative partner Robert Francis Muller (who filmed the videos above), they formed a creative partnership Get Mullered and Dance.  By the by, I'm giving them the imaginary award of Most Awesome Name to the pair.  The two created this installation in the Topshop Oxford Circus store…

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Looking at Dance's previous work, I also love that she has many strings to her design bow exemplified by this hand bound book 'Tiny Tabetha and the Enormous Task'…

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I'm not sure where Dance found all this time to create alongside her degree but this is from her previous accessories Navajo-themed collection created for Buck Style…

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I'm the lazy bum who is exhausted looking at this output whilst thinking about uni work on top of that… but then again I am speaking as a UCL-er who had eight hours of class a week… doh! 

26 comments

  2. Lmao…the guy in the picture…I can’t stop laughing…hahaha..he’s damn cute in that makeup!!! haha…

  3. I loved that video. It must have taken ages to do that and the Topshop installation is wonderful. Her pieces are like loveable stuffed animals. Very beautiful. <3
    skiepies.blogspot.com/

  9. looks inspired by Chocolate Rain, including the oversized doll display.

  15. I was there watching the Bournemouth one 🙂 I love the head up in the clouds and the last few clothing pictures! xxx

  21. oh, their both oh so inspiring. i have been so unmotivated for the past month and they’ve made me want to go out and do things.
    p.s. i love the originality of the necklace.

  24. like you, i’m completely bamboozled that they/ she managed to achieve all that on top of a degree!! amazing!!!

  25. have followed jessica’s blog for a while now…really great that she’s getting recognition! so much effort/hard work!

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