NYFW SPOTLIGHT
Julianna Bass
“In fast fashion, we have to make our future now and consider how that is going to translate into luxury”, continues Bass. “I’m a luxury womenswear designer who typically designs feminine, flouncy clothing, but there was something driving to me towards how hi-tech and fashion can fuse and how is that going to make sense in the luxury market.”
Photos by Teneshia Carr Words by Katie Farley
“Bass’s designs speak to the woman who isn’t afraid to embrace classic style on her own terms” – as vocalized by Vogue. The iconic, worldwide fashion publication recognizes the talent of Julianna Bass, which in itself, speaks volumes of the designer and her works who is currently under the industries radar. Albeit, undoubtedly not for long.
Julianna Bass is no stranger to receiving an amalgamation of accolades from all over the world. These arrive as a reflection of her awe-inspiring fashion dexterities which captivate an army of attention. The designer originally emerged in 2015 when she exhibited her autumn/winter presentation during New York Fashion Week.
Originally from Tennessee, Julianna transitioned to New York where she attended The Fashion Institute of Technology to study Fashion and Costume Design. Upon graduation, she was awarded the honor of Designer of the Year and a series of placements working at luxury brands soon followed – Elie Tahari, Eugenia Kim, Bill Blass and Marc Jacobs to name but a few. These industry placements intermixed with her studies has resulted in Bass acquiring a fundamental understanding of the fashion industry and how it operates. For two consecutive years, she has been presented placements in the Gen Art Style Awards, additionally securing a number of successful design collaborations, the key one resulting in designing a print for Diet Coke.
“Futuristic voyage as an escape from the past. Vulnerable as we look toward to the unknown, but anxious to get there. Making tomorrow today.”Julianna Bass
It was during a 2013 assignment in Berlin where Bass was truly captivated by the city’s fashion, art and culture that she made the decision to move from Brooklyn to Berlin in order to further elevate her creativity and design perspective. “My time in Berlin has given me this incredible mix of freedom and focus, expresses Julianna. “I’m able to design from my authentic self.
Her designs see Bass undergo artistic collaborations with various artists, whose works are exhibited in Berlin’s contemporary art gallery, Haute Presents, where the designer explores an original print that is introduced to her collections, each season. The previous four seasons focus on the works of artists, Marco Meiran (SS16), Peer Kriesel (AW16 and AW17) and Blaz Kutin (SS17). Julianna creatively fuses fashion with digital art media, which champions not only fresh and exciting developments within the separate design practices but also pioneers emerging artists work through her innovative fashion presentations.
Bass’s previous collections have often been characterized by whimsical, architectural and vintage feeling accents but now she seems to be channeling a more sinister and sophisticated aesthetic. The designer’s fall 2017 collection was a reflection of how silence translates itself into clothes, where long, graceful evening gowns were imbued with subtlety and restraint through fabrics that evoked hints of bareness as opposed to brazen exposure.
Julianna’s Spring/Summer 2018 collection corresponds with the following thought-provoking quote: “Futuristic voyage as an escape from the past. Vulnerable as we look toward to the unknown, but anxious to get there. Making tomorrow today.” A vision of metallics, revolutionary silhouettes, and interesting fabric dynamics captivated the onlooker into imagining fashion and its intriguing futuristic facets. An overriding sense of fascinating style and structure is observed.
“I called the collection ‘Go Make Tomorrow Now’”, explains Julianna after the show, who felt energetically different this time around. “It’s futuristic and you see the obvious throws to future fashion and metallic, which I wanted to play with because it’s a fun element. With fashion, I was inspired by how we make our future now. There is a futuristic element not only in the fabrications but in the techniques, also. Infusing technology into an organza dress was no easy feat!”
“In fast fashion, we have to make our future now and consider how that is going to translate into luxury”, continues Bass. “I’m a luxury womenswear designer who typically designs feminine, flouncy clothing, but there was something driving to me towards how hi-tech and fashion can fuse and how is that going to make sense in the luxury market. I’m over-the-moon with the collection”!
