SOMETHING ELSE FROM SOMETHING ELSE.
While re-reading Russh October/November 2011 last night, I came across a little interview with the people behind the Something Else /Ken Done collaboration.
The creators of the dress I raved about:
Natalie Wood (Something Else designer)
George Barnes (Something Else in-house artist)
Ken Done
The Russh interview:
What is your favourite piece from the the collection?
Ken Done: I love them all but I particularly enjoyed the Kaleidadone Kimono. Maybe I could wear one swanning around the studio?
What was your desire in reinterpreting the works?
George Barnes: To keep the essence of what Ken Done is in my eyes - which is fun, joyful, carefree art, rich in colour and texture. I wanted to adapt these characteristics into my work, for each design to look as good as I could make them. Hopefully it appeals to the generation that grew up with a piece of Done and to the generation about to discover his work!
Why did you approach Ken Done to do a collaboration?
Natalie Wood: We wanted to do a really fun collaboration for summer. We already had a theme, which was about this marine girl superhero character who protects all the coral reefs and sea creatures. So we were already looking at beautiful coral pictures... then we chatted about what sort of artist could work with that theme, and the Ken Done name came up. It was pretty instant that it would be such an amazing collaboration. He is a true icon in Australia so we thought we would launch the first of a series of high profile collaborations on homegrown soil. I also really liked the nostalgic feel to the project; it really stirred something inside people and there was a lot of reminiscing. I was really quite starstruck when I first met him, and to find ourselves in the midst of the Ken Done archives was truly magical. His reef series paintings that he personally showed me through took my breath away.
