Following her 2003 graduation from Central Saint Martins with a rock star collection of tattooed body suits, a Jack Daniels print and silver quilting worthy of Kiss-like pyrotechnics, Aimee McWilliams scored her first gig at Alexander McQueen helping create the label's prints and embroidery. She was also recruited to work with British Vogue contributing editor Charlotte Stockdale before heading to Rafael Lopez as a design assistant. Now armed with a pioneering label of her own, the surprisingly low-key designer is beginning to turn London's fashion cognoscenti on their dizzied heads.
Not that McWilliams is altogether comfortable with the title of fashion designer. An accomplished illustrator, she teaches drawing at her former art school and receives regular commissions from Harvey Nichols. Illustration also featured prominently in her spring 2005 show, her first presentation and only her second independent collection. "It was a translation of twenty illustrations," she explains. "I deciphered volumes and lines, and used them to direct the cutting of every garment. This allows me to create a unique look." The experiment resulted in vaguely gothic, abstractly-shaped chiffons, silks, sequins and leather spilling down the body in dracu-colors of gray, black, gold and aubergine.
Like other forward-minded designers of her generation, McWilliams eschews trite notions of designing "for the modern woman." Instead, she casts her net far and wide, pulling in influences ranging from Eighteenth Century musical instruments to the The Godfather. Describing her maniacal process of cutting and collaging, she says, "Abstract, abstract, abstract! I go until the images are unrecognizable." She's even managed to get a hold of a fabric called Corleone, a silk with the look of leather, which she used for a mean-looking cropped bomber jacket and slim trousers.
In keeping with the romantic spirit, elaborate accessories also play an important role. Spiky-edged brooches, along with embroidered and gold-leafed belts make appearances, while shoe spats, those long-forgotten pieces of leather that cover the ankle and fasten under the shoe, are resurrected in chocolate leather or plum suede.
Aimee McWilliams is stocked exclusively at Two See, 17 Monmouth Street, near London's Covent Garden, and there is chatter about the possibility of Harrods picking up the line next season. - Erica Crompton
Following her 2003 graduation from Central Saint Martins with a rock star collection of tattooed body suits, a Jack Daniels print and silver quilting worthy of Kiss-like pyrotechnics, Aimee McWilliams scored her first gig at Alexander McQueen helping create the label's prints and embroidery. She was also recruited to work with British Vogue contributing editor Charlotte Stockdale before heading to Rafael Lopez as a design assistant. Now armed with a pioneering label of her own, the surprisingly low-key designer is beginning to turn London's fashion cognoscenti on their dizzied heads.
