Jack Irving is bringing ballroom back to its roots for AW22.
A favourite of Gaga and Paris Hilton, Jack Irving is back after a 4 year hiatus to study the mystery of the deep sea and all of its creatures. Meeting him in his encapsulated Stoke Newington studio, the designer, who took time off to immerse himself into digital art and its translation in real life (especially NFTs), shares that he found great inspiration in the fluid movement behind the world’s fascination with deep sea life and the abyss of the unknown. Partnering together with ON|OFF, the infamous talent incubator having supported London’s biggest emerging talent for the past 20 years, both Lee Lapthorne and Jack Irving have formed an incredibly creative bond.
“I see this underwater goddess alien, a woman that is incredibly powerful and is in her own metaverse and brings her own unique meaning in life - almost like a mirror she is curious about herself through life, the same way we study aquatic sea-life,” he adds, whilst setting the inflatable device behind his opening look – a spiked, inflatable plum coloured cocoon that grows outwards, only to be ripped off revealing a shiny, plexiglass corset (an homage to his beloved Thierry Mugler) and matching latex bodysuit, and accessorised with a custom Rubyoung speaker, spiked up and propped up to the shoulder.
His show, presented on Friday in the Grosvenor Ballroom was all about the ‘90s sense of movement, excitement and the fashion’s exploration of the ballroom scene. In true Jack Irving style, there were multicoloured tentacles and spikes in sunset oranges, protruding from latex bustiers, metallic spinning skirts and headpieces, operated by the models.
Jack Irving’s sense of movement and deep conceptual exploration of how he witnesses fashion is a uniquely exciting, fun, campy immersion, and much needed within the London scene, bringing nostalgia and ballroom flare onto the runway, with concepts that take beneath the surface, and onto the unknown.
