DESIGN | UNSTRUCTURED TAILORING
Unstructured Jacket 2009
Unstructured Jacket Bone White 2007.
At MOMA NY opening of ‘Items is Fashion Modern Show'‘. Unstructured jacket September 2017.
Unstructured Jacket detail, 2009.
At MOMA New York at the opening of ‘Is fashion Modern show, September 2017.
At the opening of the Museum of Modern Art's show September 2017, in the background my original white suit design from unstructured from 2005.
Unstructured advert November 2006. Photograph Nick Knight.
Unstructured multi exposure image, 2007. Photograph Nick Knight
Unstructured suit, Paris Fashion show June 2008.
Paris fashion show, unstructured jacket, June 2008.
Fashion show set, 2008 Paris.
Together with Aston Martin, Carlo styled a special version of the Vantage N400. The paint finish was compleley matt white with no reflection or shine. The interior was designed entirely in perforated dark navy suede, the car was a unique piece and is in the Aston Martin archive. Paris June 2008.
Unstructured image 2007. Photograph Nick Knight.
Unstructured Tailoring drawing 2001.
Unstructured Tailoring detail, the original pieces do do not carry a label , just a signature.
UNSTRUCTURED TAILORING
Carlo created the idea of Unstructured Tailoring.
He started to work on the first versions of Unstructured Tailoring in 1994, with the first production ideas produced in 2001. Unstructured Tailoring changed the way tailoring and the suit for a man was seen and perceived, up until then full structured heavier suits with interlinings and horse hair chest pieces was the norm. Carlo designed completely unlined jackets, without any internal structure (with the exception of sometimes a shoulder pad in certain designs), allowing the cut to dictate any external shape. The idea was to change the artistic intention of the object, to have modern suits feel as light as possible and look slim, contemporary, and visually interesting internally as well as externally.
By making the suit lighter and cleaner, men understood that this part of their wardrobe was not just for formal occasions. The way in which the suit was worn started to change, with men adopting trainers as opposed to shoes to wear with this new contemporary suit, the suit was also adopted for travel, as it was lightweight and versatile. Carlo christened the work 'Unstructured Tailoring' and the menswear industry has adopted this term to define all design of this nature.
MOMA - The Museum of Modern Art New York October 1st 2017 - January 2018
Moma presents an exhibition ' IS FASHION MODERN' dedicated to and acknowledging the defining items in mens and womens fashion. this marks a significant change in the art museums exhibition programme, which has largely until now featured shows from recognised stella ‘artists’ such as warhol to jeff koons. a blue chip art museum choosing to present fashion in a show is a significant change in how some fashion design is now being seen by the arts world.
The museum presents a very limited ( only 111 items from the last 100 years ) and definitive, group of designs and designers that have had a strong impact on history and society politically and socially spanning the last century. designs such as the fashion defining chanel black dress, a nylon prada bag, a levis 501, the nike trainer and the politically charged dashiki and kippah, will sit along side iconic items such as the Hermes birkin bag, the Gucci loafer , the YSL smoking and Carlo Brandelli’s seminal Unstructured Tailoring suit. there are only a few specific menswear items in the entire exhibition making the inclusion all the more significant.
THE SLIM SUIT
Carlo first began designing the modern slim suit in 1992 at his own brand ‘Squire’ in London, as a modern alternative to the baggy oversized tailoring that was widely available. this new direction launched the suit as a more contemporary part of a mans wardrobe. as Luke Leitch writer for Vogue delicately put it in a recent review from Jan 2015 when commenting on who pioneered this new suit style initially, he quotes - ‘’ first at Squire and then Kilgour, Brandelli anticipated slimane and simmons stripping back the suit by slimming it, razionalising it and thus sleekening it’’. as it turned out a subtle but very significant nuance and design direction ideology taken by carlo which changed the perception of the classic suit throughout the menswear arena indefinitely.