"They’re eco feminist, stated Bregazzi. I don’t think men are doing a very good job at looking after the world so let’s hope women are going to do a better job.
Thea Bregazzi and Justin Thornton discovered this at a traveling photography exhibition at London’s National Maritime Museum last year. “They are just so incredibly strong, and we found it fascinating to look at how they dress to dive—with their scuba equipment, but feminizing it with layers of lace blouses or other bits of clothing from their wardrobes.” As parents raising two daughters, the designers want to immerse their children in the belief that gender equality is a right. After deep reading around the haenyeo community, they made the obvious connection with the state of mother nature. The makings of a collection that centered on eco-feminism was born.
With prior knowledge of this research background, you could pick out the references: the tight hoods, scuba fabric parkas and pencil skirts, trails of fishnet, bags manifested as buoys, marine blues, shimmery mother-of-pearl and gold sequins, and “seaweed”-sprouting shoes. Had you not read up? You’d see Preen by Thornton Bregazzi working its way through its signature repertoire of florals and dippy-hemmed dresses, with some Asian-appropriated padded brocade coats, fringed with goat hair.
Where does that leave us? The submerged meanings are important to these designers—they’ve gotten into the habit of leaving photographs of stacks of their reading matter on benches at their shows. Still, plunging into eco-waters and matters of cultural appropriation will inevitably raise many questions today." Sarah Mower Vogue
“These woman our eco-warriors” said Justin Thornton after the Preen AW18 show. “The rope belts, the knits that look like foam on the beach, we wanted to create an environmental feel.” How did this come about? “We were inspired by a Korean sea-diving community where they layer over all their clothes, and actually look so fashionable.”
Like many of the pair's collections, this season Preen took inspiration from women and the places that they occupate in society. Fascinated by the stories of the Haenyeo women of Jeju whose portraits they came across at the Maritime Museum last year, the collection focused on feminity in harsher climats - much like the political landscape of today. Taking us to the South Korean province of Jeju, Preen relayed the story of the island's female divers, women in their sixties and seventies known for their independent spirit, iron will and determination.
Preen are designers Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi: https://preenbythorntonbregazzi.com