FLORA MIRANDA COUTURE A/W 2018-2019

Flora Miranda Couture Presentation FW 2018
‘Ready To Die’
‘Ready To Die’ is a pun on ‘Ready To Wear’ fashion collections. For this body of work Flora Miranda deals with
‘death’ in a broader sense, namely the fugacity of fashion products – finding the beauty in sadness and
nostalgia.
The first thought to on ‘death’ is the custody and sterility of garments in museum collections, which leads to the
image of the museum being a cemetery of goods.
The second thought is copying versus referencing. At Miranda’s time at the Antwerp fashion academy the first
principle was « Do not look at other designer’s works for inspiration! Use historical references. » For this collection
we wonder what ‘historical’ means. As soon as we find an idea in a museum, open for referencing, it becomes
educational and dead. Why is it taboo to reference to designs that were just presented a day ago? Yesterday =
History? When is something out of fashion?
We 3d scanned a selection of museum pieces which strike by silhouette, texture and storytelling. By
virtualising these pieces they transform to be dead in cyberspace. But their data becomes
everlasting, the information is stored and can be directly reproduced at any moment.
We worked upon the 3d models in a way, that the files can be reproduced into real life. We then built
these 3d structures in different techniques by hand and the help of machines.
Flora Miranda’s mission is to challenge the obsolete notions of haute couture, and for some years now has been
exploring physical boundary experiences that take place in real and virtual spaces. She sees the body as pure
information – a thought that makes it possible to send the body « like an e-mail ». By this novel, techniques are
found and detached from design tradition or history.
Flora spent her formative years growing up in the circle of a family of artists and musicians where she developed
her skills as a painter. After finishing her master degree at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, she
executed projects for Iris Van Herpen.
Flora’s work is strongly picked up by the art world, leading to several exhibition participations at spaces as
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Liu Haisu Museum Shanghai, Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt Berlin and
Somersethouse London. For her creations she received prices including the Rado Starprize Austria, Outstanding
Artist Award for Experimental Fashion Design by BKA, Mittelmoda award for Technology and she was a finalist
at International Talent Support.
„(…) Flora Miranda ́s approach examines the future possibilities of fashion, an interdisciplinary artistic
fundamental research: From this she delivers a completely new aesthetic with a surprising visual impact, in the
fashion world that is dominated by citation she opens an independent position for herself.“ (jurymembers O.A. Award:
Stavros Karelis, Rosario Morabito, Branko Popovic, Patricia Romatét)