Kathia Nseke Strikes Goddess Poses In Michael Stewart Gowns For AnOther Magazine F/W 2017

AnOther Magazine's A/W 2017 issue teams up with 1 Granary to focus on emerging creative talents working in fashion design. Photographer Andre Nuding flashes the sculptural and striking gowns of Irish designer Michael Stewart, styled by Kieran Kilgallon. Model Kathia Nseke is goddess of the rising sun. AnOther writes:

Born in a small Irish village in County Clare, Stewart was exposed to prehistoric sculptures and ancient burial sites from an early age, as they surrounded the rural area in which he grew up. As such the emerging designer developed a fascination with anthropology, which would ultimately feed into his MA research, taking inspiration from traces of early culture, including hand-carved figurines of deities and primitive drawings. “By translating these sculptural relics to a garment, I’m reanimating those ancient things, giving them a body,” he explains. This is most tangible in the curvaceous metal accessories used to close his gowns, with the shapes drawn from the cave paintings of Lascaux, which are said to illustrate the feeling of being in trance. “I read that this state felt, for whoever was experiencing it, to be like their bones were being picked out of their bodies one by one, getting polished, and being put back in. I wanted the silver sculptures to look like those deformed bones.”

The Lascaux caves inspired Dior's creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri's 2018 resort collection.  And they are a core principle behind AOC's GLAMTRIBALE's growing jewelry and gift collection.