Bleach. PR Welcomes Phoenix Keating + Official Press Release

We’re proud to welcome Phoenix Keating to the Click. family. The official press release and lookbook for Phoenix’s latest collection ‘DE-SEX’ follow.

Phoenix Keating – ‘DE-SEX

Classicism Meets Avant-Garde – Prêt-à-Porter Meets Couture

Phoenix Keating, the eponymous label established in 2008, has returned to the forefront of the Australian Fashion Industry with the transeasonal collection ‘DE-SEX.’

For the last two years Phoenix Keating has focused on one-off couture designs, some of which were worn by Lady Gaga on her visit to Australia last year.

Keating says, “I felt like it was the right time for me to produce a full collection again after having taken the time to put all the necessary pieces in place to create a functioning ready to wear label that could still embody and accentuate my passion for couture as well.”

Phoenix Keating officially presented DE-SEX in the week prior to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia at the Paddington United Church in Sydney. Models walked down an iridescent white runway, in place of the aisle to a string quartet headed by Joshua Whiley, offset with music hand picked by Phoenix himself, remixed by Michael Donney of Radio INC. Runway sets by Matthew Mitchell who has worked on shows for the likes of Louis Vuitton and Chanel completed the vision.

DE-SEX turns the trend of outward runway fetish gear on its head, dismantling the highly sexualized connotations of latex, rope and binding style garments by giving them a new aesthetic value.

The collection intertwined the themes of fetish with the classic silhouettes of the 1940’s and other distinguished elements of classicism including the purity of a well-tailored French chef’s shirt and the traditional clothing of Belgian Housewives around the 1700’s.

Of his inspiration Keating says, “I was looking at Belgian housewives around the time of the 1700’s and I began to see the foundations of modern fetish wear subtly worked into their outfits and I was inspired to create a collection that took fetish back to a less vulgar, less sexual aesthetic.”

‘DE-SEX’ was executed using an extensive range of contrasting fabrics, finished and layered in a distinctive manner to fuse the varied muses of the collection together. It encompasses everything from the common couture fabrics’, silk organza and silk satin; to latex, rope, cotton drill, upholstery fabric, micro-suede and faux croc and snake skin.

Beyond the inspiration, DE-SEX offers a comprehensive choice of alternative classics from pencil skirts and 1940’s inspired fitted dresses embellished with harness style, hand woven rope binding, to floor length dresses complete with a hood and an exaggerated high necked coat and gown.

Other standout pieces include The Snake and Organza and Croc and Organza crop skirts as well as a Japanese inspired dress and shirt in tradition opposing neutral colours. Full skirts and wide-leg pants complete the 1940’s inspiration whilst black mesh tops and a mesh gown bound by rope cement the fetish aesthetic.

Staying true to couture, DE-SEX also incorporates a white wedding dress complete with a hood and diagonally cropped full skirt. The white wedding dress sums up the entire collection by redefining the timeless 1940’s silhouette with provocative tailoring and a fetish style hood.

Phoenix Keating, has built a reputation around his couture wares; DE-SEX melded these signatures perfectly into ready to wear pieces. Each piece in the collection was finished with hand sewn French seams and was crafted using intricate paneling to produce a more structured finish, which enhances the female form. Each piece, ready to wear or couture, embodied the same luxurious qualities, the only difference is the wear-ability of the pieces.

‘DE-SEX’ affirms Phoenix Keating’s ability to transcend, merging couture and ready to wear, classic and avant-garde seamlessly into one bold statement.

Phoenix Keating will be presenting limited pieces of the DE-SEX collection in a stylized installation at Seven Hundred Photos on June 28^th 2012 at the Darlo Bar on the corner of Liverpool St. and Darlinghurst Rd., Darlinghurst. The event offers the perfect opportunity for media and public to capture the essence of the collection.