The Elegant Simplicity of Amelie Bahlsen’s Liquid Boxes
Born in Germany and based in New York, fashion designer Amelie Bahlsen uses experimental patterns to produce unique and chic garments.
With exquisite yet understated materials and obscure, striking silhouettes,Bahlsen seeks to “translate abstract and conceptual ideas about space, perspective and three-dimensionality” in her work.
Bahlsen’s interest in fashion materialized after high school. Excited by her newfound passion, she enrolled in Berlin’s Mediadesign University, where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Design. Following a subsequent internship with Ame Souer in Paris, Bahlsen migrated to New York to study at Parsons School of Design, where she received her Master’s Degree in Fashion Design and Society. For her thesis project, she designed and created her Liquid BOXES collection – an array of dresses featuring bold accents of color and overlaid in distinctive white sheaths.
Bahlsen discusses the conceptual nature of BOXES with ROOMS:
My thesis collection Liquid BOXES is about the idea of three-dimensionality and perspective translated into garments. What happens when you sew a perspectively-drawn box in fabric? How do those shapes collapse on the body? I aimed to answer these questions with the dresses whose pattern construction was in fact based on cubes and boxes.
With their geometric focus and inherent exploratory nature, her BOXES garments are clearly conceptually striking. They also, however, boast a stunning aesthetic:
To emphasize the depth and the different shades of white there are two layers of dresses: a printed undergarment and a white overlay. The prints are made by ink and food coloring dropped in water and contrast the straight and graphic elements of the white ‘box’-dresses nicely.
By juxtaposing the flowing, abstract nature of the colorful patterns with the pieces’ stark, clean contours, Bahlsen’s work conveys an undeniable interest in experimenting with fashion. With her innovative focus, refreshing aesthetic, and distinctive style, Amelie Bahlsen definitely thinks outside the box.
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