Linear Principles & Infinite Progressions

‘Creative, meticulous cutting and a refined use of colour are two areas inherent to Markos Tranakas’ approach to womenswear design. The fields of art and design provide an abundant source of inspiration in conceiving pieces distinguished by a level of taste and refinement that in the present day seem merely forgotten. For his degree’s final collection ‘Linear Principles and Infinite Progressions’, the designer chose to hone into his long-standing fascination with the Constructivist, Spatialist, and Optic movements; taut curves and angles harmoniously intertwine, resulting in a mathematically precise examination of form’s possibilities whose intrinsic means of expression lies in colour interaction and the interplay between interior and exterior surfaces. The lyrical curves of Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo’s sculptures are translated into dramatically curvilinear hems and panelling that appears to defy a dress’ material confines, with the angled planes of Victor Vasarely’s paintings becoming panels or asymmetric hems that poetically twist around the figure; jetted openings through which cloth emerges allude to the sliced canvases of Lucio Fontana, while the draped front of a swing coat that reveals its interior echoes the curvilinear form of a Martin Smith ceramic. Sophisticated tones of plum and ochre, viridian green, chartreuse and anthracite grey embrace each other in an unexpected unison as if borrowed from a Josef Albers colour study, setting apart the collection’s impeccably elegant pieces crafted from the finest Laurent Garigue woollens.’