Bubblegum Club

Tag: PICHULIK

  • Creating images of Food. Fashion. Flowers. Faces. Things. with Photographer Alix-Rose Cowie

    Creating images of Food. Fashion. Flowers. Faces. Things. with Photographer Alix-Rose Cowie

    An intuitive touch. Natural. Raw. Harnessing natural light. Embracing colour. Mirror and fabric come into play. Verging on surreal. Inspired by the sun and the ways in which light manifests itself.

    Alix-Rose Cowie majored in Art Direction during her Visual Communication studies at the AAA School of Advertising in Cape Town. A frustration with the hunt for royalty-free stock images to ideate her concepts resulted in her taking imagery into her own hands. From this point, she began to style and shoot her own images whenever the opportunity presented itself.

    Image from La Loba campaign for Selfi x Rharha (2017)

    Sharing her history with the medium of photography, Alix states that her respect and enjoyment of photography originated in early childhood. Her father would occasionally allow her to take a picture on his camera and to change the spool of the device. These moments became a rather special occasion for her. Practice of the art of image creation as she approaches it today, made its way into her life when she was a bit older and started photographing dress-up sessions in the garden of her house. “It feels the same when I’m shooting fashion stories now: playful and explorative…”.

    Alix attributes her photographic skills predominantly to experimentation and play though, she completed some short courses in the beginning, to kick-start her understanding of manual camera settings. “I have a great friend who had aspirations of being a stylist and we’d partner up to bring our off-beat fashion concepts to life – this was where most of my learning took place. The sensation of having a burning idea that needs to be realised.”

    She describes her passion as one of image creation, with photography being an accessible avenue through which to explore. In image creation, Alix finds delight in other photographic outlets outside of fashion such as food styling and still lifes. A choice to solely work with natural light shows her appreciation of the challenges that light can present as well as a fondness of the play of light itself.

    Alix’s photography translates into work created for fashion labels and culture focussed publications. Journeying into the world of photography as a fashion photographer, Alix’s interests have grown to encompass photographs of a variety of subjects and material that can be summed up as “Food. Fashion. Flowers. Faces. Things.” as her website articulates.

    Image from FW18 Talisman for Rain campaign for Pichulik

    Inspired by looking through publications such as Gather Journal and The Gourmand, Alix began to examine the possibilities of food photography. With an artistic approach her aim was to turn the genre of food photography “on its head” – a task that she has certainly been successful in. This success can be followed on platforms such as Chips!, a food and culture magazine for which Alix does not only photograph the conceptual editorials but edits content for as well.

    With a keen focus in the world of magazines stemming from her background in independent publishing, Alix shares her aspirations of working with more indie publications in the future. “I love the alchemy of great imagery combined with words,” she states. Branded content is another subject in which Alix finds interest expressing that she would like to work with “forward-thinking brands who are open to creative expression and visual experimentation.”

    Her photographic work is something to marvel at rather than to critique as it takes a rather unique individual to be so multi-versed in various genres of photography. What can be said, however, is that she has a distinguishable visual language that is drawn through all of her images. Traditional composition and intuitive play meet with a harnessing of available light, creating soft images with the appearance of being gently, and more often than not, evenly kissed by sunbeams. Beautiful, dreamy, inviting and an embrace of colour.

    Alix’s recent bodies of work include: A La Loba campaign for Selfi x Rharha done at the end of last year, FW18 Talisman for Rain campaign for Pichulik, colour-blocked still lifes for adicolour x Between 10and5, the openers for womenswear, menswear and homeware for the latest Superbalist magazine and the photographs of flowers for the next issue of The Carnation zine released at the end of June 2018.

    To keep up with Alix’s work (not just her photography) visit her website.

    Image from La Loba campaign for Selfi x Rharha (2017)

     

  • PICHULIK FW 17 Collection // embracing the qualities of Wabi-Sabi

    Katherine-Mary Pichulik, owner and designer of PICHULIK, enjoys going through her great-grandmother’s trousseau. It allows her to connect to her female lineages and understand the journeys that have informed the woman that she is today. One particular photograph that she found became the foundation for the direction she took for PICHULIK’s FW17 collection. It was a photograph of a woman her great-grandmother had met in the ’50s in Japan. On the back of the photograph were the word, “Mother”. This forensic investigation into the kind of woman her great-grandmother was, and this connection to Japan, inspired Katherine-Mary to look to Japanese aesthetic practices for this collection.

    The culture and sense of community among Japanese Ama pearl divers was one main source of inspiration for the jewelry collection. This 2000 year old practice of women free diving in the ocean without protective gear or oxygen has an immediate connection to the PICHULIK brand. The women tie rope around their waists during their dives and rope is the main material for PICHULIK accessories. Originally a practice to forage for shellfish, over the years the practice has become one which involves diving for pearls. “What was so inspiring is the bold courage of these women to go deep under the ocean,” Katherine-Mary explained, “What I also found exciting is that these pearls also symbolically represent women.”. Katherine-Mary also explained that there is an association between pearls and the moon. The Ama collection brings an awareness to the connection between the moon, the ocean and the feminine.

    Women are always the protagonists in the conceptualization of PICHULIK collections, and so the story of the divers, the pearls and the brand amalgamate perfectly. PICHULIK is about, “using jewelry and ornamentation, the oldest modalities from the Neolithic period, as a conduit to share empowering messages to women as well as to share stories cross-culturally that show female self-inquiry, bravery and alchemy of sorts.”.

    In addition to their main material, the collection uses base metals such like brass and bronze. Katherine excitedly explained that these materials oxidize due to exposure to salt water or exposure to oxygen, and the PICHILIK pieces embrace the true nature of these materials. “So the pieces are not only dripped with pearls but they also age with time and take on the qualities of Wabi-Sabi”; an aesthetic practice that shows appreciation and acceptance of imperfections. Wood also features as another elemental force which can be seen in their Haiko earrings and Pagoda neckpiece.

    The Japanese flower arranging practice of Ikebana is another source of inspiration for the collection, which can be seen directly in their FW17 lookbook.

    Under the PICHULIK umbrella is the fashion side designed by Nadya von Stein. Having grown with the brand since graduating from fashion school, Nadya combines her Italian-style tailoring with the creative direction of the brand. For the FW17 collection they worked with fabric from Mungo, a hand-loom company based in Plettenberg Bay. Re-imagining their Mungo’s first run of patterns, Nadya designed power suit combinations that reference ’80s maximism. The rest of the garments are constructed from hand-dyed hemp in rich colours such as deep reds and maroons. The fashion and jewelry collection speak to one another in the way in which they are designed to celebrate ideas of self-love and feminine energies.

    Looking at classic and non-traditional Ikebana arrangements, and referencing beautiful portraits of Ama pearl divers, the lookbook has a slightly cinematic feel, marrying ’80s opulence with Japanese minimalism. “[We wanted] you to feel as if you had gone on a journey or process of some kind,” Katherine-Mary explained. Contrasting elements were compiled together, with satin gloves and Ikebana arrangements alongside over the top embellishments. Shots by the ocean connect back to the influence of the ocean and create a dreamy, sci-fi feel.

    The evolution of PICHUIK over the years has seen the team pushing towards building a community around the brand’s message. Encouraging empowering dialogues and authentic conversations with women, “supporting and celebrating ideas of self-love, self-actualization, self-inquiry, [and] self -nurturing” continue to be the foundation for PICHULIK’s creative direction.

    Lookbook credits:
    Stylist: Gabbi Kannemeyer
    Photographer: Alix-Rose Cowie
    Videographer: Maxine Thaysen
    Ikebana specialist: Cynthia Fan
    Model: Gwen Lu
    Make up: Sandra Bensoussan