Photo by Lucy Emms.
At the start of 2018, a story broke involving international pop princess Katy Perry and a little-known Central Saint Martins graduate named Dom Sebastian. He alleged that Perry had stolen artwork from his Holographic Melt Series and used it for the cover of her single “Chained to the Rhythm (Hot Chip Remix)”. While it rose many interesting questions about the manipulation of young creatives’ work, it also helped to thrust Sebastian into the limelight, and shine a light on his otherworldly, liquified graphics and prints. With a portfolio consisting of holographic digi edits, VHS creations and trippy spinning GIFS, it’s work that you might identify as ‘Tumblr-core’: an aesthetic reminiscent of Noughties Tumblr profiles. His graphic digi edits have made him a viral success story.
Since graduating from BA Textile Design at CSM in 2018, he’s mostly worked on set-design and campaign work. He has enjoyed collaborations with Nike, Puma and Yeezy (Kanye described him as a “genius”) and was responsible for shooting and directing Camper’s FW16 campaign. But behind the scenes he was carefully crafting his debut collection for his own eponymous brand. The collection, which was showcased on Friday at London Fashion Week, builds on his graduate collection, Gel Futures, which saw the relocation of silicone textures and twisted thermoplastics as digitised prints. “There has been an evolution [since my graduate collection” Sebastian tells SLEEK. “Since I started studying textile design it has become the central focus of my work and I started to put all of my energy into clothes and print design.”
From Dom Sebastian's Infinity Mirror 2 series and Liquid Series. Courtesy of the artist.
Graphic and garish, his London Fashion Week debut was a nod towards the information overload of the internet age. He successfully applies his viral artistic aesthetic (which he describes as “surreal yet clinical”) to apparel, both via his use of prints and the unique cuts which appeared throughout the collection. “I really like the New French Extremism movement. I’m also into that era of the mid-2000s where a lot of horror cinema was super dark, grungy and over the top gore—there is a kind of camp-ness to it, which I like,” Sebastian says of his inspiration behind the collection. “I’m mostly inspired by objects, such as mid-century glassware and ceramics, furniture as well. A lot of technology and product design, particularly around the turn of the millennium. There is something very optimistic and experimental about that time period that I like,” says the designer. Music also plays a big part. He cites Boards of Canada, Goldfrapp, Madonna, SOPHIE and the Cocteau Twins as being some of the artists that burrow their way into his work.
Digitally-crafted images of his artwork were printed across an array of pieces; there were sea-witch style military vests and tights, red and black marble-effect suiting, hyper-flared collage print trousers and a wide range of hypnotic digital-printed shirts. The heavy layering added to the overload theme, making it feel like there was a lot to look at and digest. “The process involved taking scans from all of my samples, and then layering over these with digital ideas,” explains Sebastian. “I like combining both physical imagery and digital imagery—there’s something ambiguous about it, not knowing what’s a real object/material and what isn’t. In regards to the silhouettes of the garments, I really wanted it to be quite graphic with extreme sharp lines and curves. With SS20, it was a relaxed process, I was developing it organically and adding to it, mixing loads of different prints and samples together, It’s quite frenetic.”
Photo by Lucy Emms.
The set design crafted a physical representation of the Dom Sebastian world; all his artistic skills were rolled together to create a visually striking show space (Sebastian describes it as “a full size version of my still life universe”). Busy and abstract, it was an art-installation in it’s own right. Models stood amongst super-sized vases, props of slime and liquids and a giant printed backdrop featuring an image from his now infamous Holographic Melt Series.
Ultimately, Sebastian’s London Fashion Week debut successfully expressed the fluidity of his work and his ability to perfectly craft his design technique across many different mediums. It’s rare that someone showing their first collection would choose to be so daring, but with Sebastian, he’s not here to make pretty pieces that will adorn the pages of Vogue. His pieces are more than just concept-store shelf clutter, they’re about pushing his own artistic aesthetic to the next level and about showing his diversity as a multi-platform creative. There’s no doubt that he’ll be joining the likes of Mowalola, Supriya Lele and Asai as one of London’s new fashion frontiers.
See more from Dom Sebastian’s SS20 presentation below:
Courtesy of Dom Sebastian. Show photos by Lucy Emms.