Nostalgia for a place you can’t return to. Evocative of the past and aspirational towards the future: A spotlight on Corban Harper’s intimate craftsmanship photographed by Marco Giuliano and styled by Anca Macavei.
Corban Harper is a conscious approach to fashion where craftsmanship and intimacy are pillars. Using multiple forms of adornment the garments are counter balanced by a modern sense of style and proportion where beauty is never literal but profound none the less. Evocative of the past and aspirational towards the future the brand offers a poet’s view of the world: romantic, subversive and hazy.
Share with us some insights into Corban Harper’s brand identity.
The brand is a romantic and modern womenswear brand, with an obsession in technique, craft and process. It’s a poetic and emotional view of fashion with a conscious method of producing and an intimate way of consuming. It is both aspirational and evolutionary.
I find your aesthetic to be poetic and your approach to fashion fairly artistic, are there any important figures that shaped you so far?
There isn’t anyone in particular that has shaped me. I am inspired by one’s process so anyone who’s feel singular or distinct is exciting to me. Many of things have shaped my approach to fashion would be fine art or film – but also the craft, lore and process of fashion itself. I find process endlessly inspiring, I’m moved by the introspective and cerebral nature of fashion; both the methodical and tedious.
Tell us more about your creative process, how do you start working on your collections?
My process typically starts with technique and emotion. From there it is about finding a way to marry the techniques with silhouette and proportions – It feels like a puzzle most of the time. My work is very instinctual, I don’t like anything to feel forced. I also enjoy exploring new ways of working to see how that informs the shape of the collection.
Which is the inspiration behind your latest collection, featured here in our pictures?
It’s very personal – It was a lot more emotionally inspired. I was working through a lot of personal anxieties and insecurities like fear, anger etc. The collection was a very raw way of working and it was done quite organically. I enjoy working with my hands and the repetition in the embroidery stitches, the braiding, dyeing and the painting were cathartic and therapeutic.
Do you think that fashion has/should have a key role to sensitize the modern society on themes like race, inclusivity, body positivity etc.?
Fashion is an elastic medium and that elasticity should encompass anyone who finds an interest in it. Art in any medium thrives in diversity. Fashion is no exception to that.
You are following your own artisanal, slow approach to fashion, not chasing the fast paced rhythms of the mainstream system. In this time of growing attention for important issues like sustainability, environment, waste exceed etc. do you think this could be a possible future for the fashion industry? If not how do you imagine it?
I think it’s a way that works for me and my ethos. For the product I create it isn’t necessary to make so much and so frequently. I would rather my pieces be calculated purchases and folded into one’s wardrobe; being treasured for a lifetime. That being said I think there is room for many ways to approach sustainability. For the size of my company it is a harmonious way of working and producing. As long as fashion as a whole is being mindful of sustainability I think we are better off.
Are you already working on the new collection? Can you tell us more about it?
I’m working on another project. But it will be a different approach to a traditional collection. I want to work in a way that feels personal and exploratory. I am excited to work in a new way and am looking forward to sharing.
Hiraeth
Credits:
Photography: Marco Giuliano / @marcogiulianoph
Styling: Anca Macavei / @ancamacavei
Creative direction: Inga Lavarini / @ilavarini
Assistant: Isabel Evangelisti / @isabelevangelisti
Models:
Tomy at Independent Management
Tracy at Boom Models
Diarra at Whynot Models
All clothes by Corban Harper / @corbanharper