London's taste for the eclectic and avant-garde keeps it firmly at the frontiers of fashion - creating the perfect, fertile environment from which an abundance of new designers can emerge. The energy and diversity of the city has been a constant source of inspiration for generations of London-based designers and indeed, anyone interested in fashion, and this series of STYLEist celebrates the amazing talents of the capital's up and coming style-setters.
Amy Konstanze Mercedes Rainbow Winters
Amy is a new media artist and fashion designer whose work lies at the intersection of fashion, visual arts, music, film, dance and theatre. The British/Swiss artist graduated from Central Saint Martin’s in 2006 with a BA in Theatre Design. Previously Amy has worked in the smart textiles industry on research and development projects collaborating with scientists to create new fabrics for the fashion industry. She has won numerous awards and grants for her work and has been recognised by the likes of Channel 4, HSBC, Science Museum London, Science Gallery Dublin, TSB and the CSM Innovation Centre.
Her background in theatre gave her a strong spirit of observation and understanding of human behaviour and its environment. It is the foundation behind her obsession with artificial environments and the role of the human within this environment. The central theme in her work explores interaction- reaction, response and process. A personal obsession with theme parks, imaginary worlds and multi-sensory experiences and bringing incongruous disciplines together such as art and science are the driving force behind her work.
What was the first thing you designed?
Back in my school days I studied textiles and had an obsession with flowing water and its iridescent reflections- I created everything from waterfall chairs to paintings recreated entirely in stitch using a sewing machine as my paintbrush. On a more costume/fashion note at college I designed costumes for dark fairytale operas- Gottfried Helnwein was such a fantastic inspiration with his extravagant rococo style opera dresses filled with lights.
