ARTIST SERIES X NAMESAKE

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A NOTE

from the designer:

My first love was drawing.

I remember learning how to capture shadow and light – I drew a manual drill I found in my parents garden shed and was so proud of the drawing I kept it in its very own sketchbook, scared to fill the other pages with inferior drawings.

Painting was my second love.

I filled large canvases with Rothko-esque colour-fields, painting with passion and purpose, and delighting in the permanent oil-paint stains under my fingernails… at 11 years old I thought I was a “real” artist.

My third love, fashion design, wasn’t as obvious a romance. I sewed, began to draw stylized fashion “croquis”, devoured fashion magazines, yet when I arrived at Art School (The School of The Art Institute of Chicago) I was reluctant to declare Fashion Design my major. The students in the fashion department were somewhat isolated from the rest of a student body that was militantly “un-fashionable” for the most part. What these other students didn’t understand, and I couldn’t yet articulate, was that fashion design was not the paper doll fantasy of my childhood, but a bona fide art form that used texture, textiles, objects, colour, and prints, as its artistic material. We learned to use vocabulary that distinguished our design work from that of a seamstress, creating “garments” that were based in conceptual inspiration -- the evolution of the silk worm, or the Bosozuku speed tribes of Japan, or the psychology of inclusion and exclusion as seen in global moto-gangs.

As a young fashion designer at SAIC, I was encouraged to think abstractly. Wearability was not a priority -- artistic integrity and conceptual grounding came first, followed by design, and construction. I had found my third artistic love.

But fashion goes beyond art for me. I adore beautiful clothes and the power and grace that a well-designed garment can confer to the wearer.

By the end of my years in art school I was focused on finding a way of bringing together the conceptual aspect of fashion design with the practical and functional, without losing the integrity of either. I eventually evolved from designing fully inspired mixed media collections to sewing black leather jackets, but never lost sight of the concept and larger purpose that these garments can satisfy. Sadly, starting my own label has meant that I have stopped drawing (save for sketches of leather jackets), and stopped painting altogether, but I have never lost touch with the artist within.

This project, The Artist Series, pays homage to these three loves: Drawing, Painting, Fashion Design. For me the three are intrinsically linked, but I realize for others the relationship is not as obvious. Some of my collaborators in this project told me that they had “no idea about fashion”, or how their medium could apply, not feeling at ease with the melding of abstract art with the concrete form of fashion. My idea was to offer full artistic freedom to an assortment of wonderful artists whom I invited to explore a creative relationship I have been navigating for 26 years.

Thus, we have together created 13 wearable art pieces – each of which is a unique, one-of-a-kind masterpiece that explores the intersection between fashion and fine art. Surrendering control to these artists was something of a challenge for me, but the variety and ingenuity of the final products astound me, and make me eager to continue exploring the potential that can come from collaboration and the unexpected melding of artistic media and passionate vision.

With the opening of this exhibit, i, along with my 13 collaborators, invite you to explore these loves of mine anew, enjoy! xx

rosa halpern, NAMESAKE designer

BEN JOHSTON With an undying desire to push what is possible with typography & lettering, BEN JOHNSTON is a multi-disciplinary artist & designer that believes in a hand-crafted approach to all his design endeavours.

Born in Canada and raised in South Africa, Ben brings a diverse sense of influence to his work - finding inspiration from the small cultural nuances to societal differences that he encounters throughout his travels. He has been featured in numerous magazines and online publications worldwide and his work has won numerous design awards including Communication Arts for custom lettering, Print Mag award for typographic murals and also multiple TDC awards.

BEN JOHNSTON X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET womens size 6 cow leather, acrylic paint, printed silkcharmeuse $3000 CAD

BOBBIE BURGERS With a curious and critical approach, Burgers propels her floral palette into a new age of industrial rebellion. The blurred lines between natural and manufactured evokes feminine power that feels fresh and provocative turning a docile subject into a rogue force.

BOBBIE BURGERS lives and works in West Vancouver, Canada, born in 1973.

BOBBIE BURGERS X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET womens size 6 cow leather, acrylic paint, fox fur, ostrich feathers, silk-charmeuse $4000 CAD

BOBBY DUNN Fine art.

Beautiful Subjects.

Dark ideation.

His recognizable style offers passion and affection, blurs poetry and image, and makes the viewers feel what he sees.

BOBBY DUNN X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET womens size 6 cow leather, acrylic paint, silk-charmeuse $1500 CAD

DANIEL MAZZONE Born to an artistic family in Toronto, Canada, DANIEL MAZZONE was surrounded by a world of visual concepts and expression from an early age.

After enduring adolescent hardships, Mazzone was inspired to begin creating art in search for the childhood bliss he had found in creating art purely for the joy of it.

His art began to catch the eye of serious art collectors and patrons such as Michael Wekerle, the Tanenbaum family, François-Henry Bennahmias, Randy Frankel and JosÊ Bautista.

His collaboration with NAMESAKE was inspired by the honey bee and addresses the ecological crisis facing pollinator bees.

DANIEL MAZZONE X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET womens size 6 cow leather, acrylic paint, graffiti, studs, printed silk-charmeuse $5000 CAD

JANNA WATSON WATSON uses abstraction as both an escape from and return to the real. As the world we know dematerializes into paint strokes, so too does her paint take stage as its very own character in a multi-act drama of composition. Bundles of colour, made up of discrete yet inseparable instances of pigment are teeming and poised as though caught mid-multiplication. The components play out on a surface of slow, chromatic gradation. these backdrops tenderly gesture toward the familiar, stopping just short of representation. The result is a conceptual project that speaks to a contemporary milieu in which abstract painting is not the retreat of meaning into an unrecognizable realm, but rather the emergence of medium as a “figure� in its own self-inscribed world of feeling and being.

JANNA WATSON X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET womens size 6 cow leather, acrylic paint, silk-charmeuse $2000 CAD

PAOLO

PETTIGIANI Paolo is an Italian photographer and art director. He combines graphic design and photography in one single image, playing with colors, shapes and contrasts. Infrared photography is his specialty, the perfect opportunity to define a new point of view on his subjects.

PAOLO PETTIGIANI X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET

womens size 6 cow leather, printed silk-chiffon, silkcharmeuse $2800 CAD

RITA LEISTNER RITA LEISTNER is an award-winning photographer based in Toronto. Her work has been exhibited internationally, published widely, and is in private, corporate and public collections, including the Royal Ontario Museum, The Canadian War Museum, The MusĂŠe du Nouveau Monde in France, and the TD Bank.

From 1984-93, Rita planted over 500,000 trees in Canada. She is represented by the Stephen Bulger Gallery.

RITA LEISTNER X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET

womens size 6 cow leather, printed canvas, embroidery, printed silk-charmeuse $4000 CAD

SARAH PHELPS SARAH PHELPS is someone who doesn’t shy away from challenges. She takes risks. Pushes herself outside of her comfort zone. Excels at everything she puts her energy into. She is a subtle mix of creativity and nature. Strength and courage. Talent and determination. And all of these attributes come through in her art.

Sarah’s paintings come in various sizes and formats, primarily acrylic and mixed media on wood panel and canvas. Her two techniques, colour blending and colour dragging, create interesting textures and her bold colour palettes create unique and striking pieces. Sarah’s paintings exhibit flow, movement, ambience, and energy.

SARAH PHELPS X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET womens size 6 cow leather, lamb leather, acrylic paint, studs, printed silk-charmeuse $2000 CAD

SARAH SKRLJ SARAH SKRLJ is a Toronto-based artist who specializes in intricate pen and ink designs.

She implements various cultural influences into her work inspired by her world travels.

Skrlj is fascinated by the power and elegance of the black and white colour scheme; the majority of her work is monochromatic. She is always ready to take on a challenge and eager to add detailed artwork to any blank surface.

No object is too big and no task too small.

Her projects range in size from intricate tattoo designs to expansive wall murals.

SARAH SKRLJ X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET

womens size 6 cow leather, acrylic paint, silk-charmeuse $1500 CAD

SHAYLA BOND SHAYLA BOND is an illustrator and artist from Kentville, Nova Scotia. Bond graduated from Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in December 2013 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Major in Fashion & Textiles. Bond spent her youth daydreaming at teen vogue editorials in a town far from that until the age of 16 when she was scouted. Her time modelling along with her love of textiles and architecture of clothing shape her current inspirations for illustration and design. Bond works Digitally, but finds meditation in painting shape compositions in traditional mediums. She currently resides in Toronto.

SHAYLA BOND X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET womens size 6 cow leather, acrylic paint, silk-charmeuse $1800 CAD

TARA ZEP TARA ZEP is a multimedia, tattoo based artist living and working in Toronto. Drawing inspiration from 70’s drug culture, biker aesthetic and the rock n’ roll lifestyle. Zep is widely known for her single needle style , “vintage” look of tattooing.

TARA ZEP X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET womens size 6 cow leather, ink, studs, silk-charmeuse $2800 CAD

TAHSIN

THE GOOD TAHSIN THE GOOD (b.198X) is a first generation canadian multidisciplinary artist. conversations, revelations and inspirations — realized and desired, inform her process. she explores the opposing ideals and the space in between movement and stillness, desire and acceptance, connection and isolation, evolution and impermanence, and finality and eternity. her deep love for philosophy, sociology, anthropology, history, identity and culture lends to her aesthetic and frequent use of found lens-based imagery, namely portraiture, collage, typography, illustration, abstraction, wordplay and prose. she lives and works with her family just outside of toronto.

TAHSIN THE GOOD X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET womens size 6 cow leather, acrylic paint, silk-charmeuse $1800 CAD

ANONYMOUS

ARTIST

This artist, who chose to remain anonymous, created a piece embelished with human hair to entice customers to think more personally about their relationship to their clothing and the materials used to make them; the result is a jacket that is as beautiful as it is haunting.

ANONYMOUS ARTIST X NAMESAKE LEATHER JACKET womens size 6 cow leather, human hair, silk-charmeuse $3000 CAD

The proceeds from the sale of the these jackets will be donated to FASHION REVOLUTION, a not-for-profit organization aiming to radically change the way clothes are sourced, produced and consumed by ensuring safe, clean and fair conditions for workers in the manufacturing industry.

NAMESAKE is proud to support a fashion industry that values people, the environment, creativity and profit in equal measure.

Fashion Revolution is a global movement that celebrates fashion as a positive influence while also scrutinising industry practices and raising awareness of the fashion industry’s most pressing issues. We aim to show that change is possible and encourage those who are on a journey to create a more ethical and sustainable future for fashion.

cover design: photography: model: hair: makeup: styling:

kara wark louisa nicolaou tanya orbulescu sandi white haley bogaert muna khalaf

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