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<\/a><\/p>\nAshish’s sequin-covered\u00a0collections are what Wonderland’s dreams are made of. Each show\u00a0is so fresh, so of the moment\u00a0and so covered in sequins it’s\u00a0without a doubt one of our LFW highlights. Imagine our delight when the V&A announced they would be hosting a 10 year catwalk retrospective of Ashish’s glittering collections as part of their Fashion in Motion series? It was intense. The shows are open to the public (and tickets are free!) and this might just be your chance to experience an Ashish show in all its\u00a0glorious, colourful magic!<\/p>\n
To coincide with the event, Browns, who have long championed Ashish’s work, will be hosting a Browns Focus x Ashish pop up shop at the museum. Not only will you be able to see an archive selection of his amazing creations, but you’ll also get to shop it. How convenient. Ahead of tomorrow’s shows, Wonderland caught up\u00a0with Ashish himself to see what he’s learnt from the last ten years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Congratulations on your Fashion in Motion show \u2013 it\u2019s so exciting!<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh I know! I didn\u2019t really think about it and then I thought, oh hang on a minute! You\u2019ve actually been doing this for quite a long time now\u2026<\/p>\n You\u2019ve been showing for over 10 years now, haven’t you?<\/strong><\/p>\n I mean I\u2019ve done collections for longer but we\u2019ve shown for ten years. I\u2019m disregarding two collections that I really hate, but yes!\u00a0Apart from that, ten years!<\/p>\n I wanted to say that I was almost surprised you\u2019d been showing for ten years as your collections always feel so fresh!<\/strong><\/p>\n I know! In American they still think I\u2019m a young, emerging designer\u2026 It\u2019s so bizarre. Like lots of people in the US just think I\u2019m a new designer. It\u2019s kind of a compliment in a way\u2026<\/p>\n I think it is because you\u2019re so on point and fresh and everything always feels so new! How do you achieve that?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t really know, I never really think about it, but I guess it\u2019s that thing where you know you…it\u2019s really hard to say actually! I\u2019ve never thought about it strangely enough, I think I just go by instinct quite a lot. I don\u2019t really think about trends in fashion, I think it\u2019s more to do with how I\u2019m feeling or the things I like at that point, the things I don\u2019t like, the things that excite me. I like to think \u2018I\u2019m really excited about this thing at the moment’ or, ‘I’m really excited by these people\u2019. What they are wearing, what they are doing, where are they going? I suppose in a way that\u2019s a bit like tapping into a culture \u2013 what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n I think it\u2019s getting a feeling of what you\u2019re inspired by, what feels new to you\u2026 and what things you feel you\u2019ve seen before and you don\u2019t want to see at that point. And then, I\u2019m very inspired by people \u2013 young people, what the kids are doing, what they\u2019re wearing \u2013 god, I sound really old\u2026 I\u2019m really fascinated by culture and things that are going on and I suppose you can\u2019t help but channel that a little bit into what you do.<\/p>\n Do you feel like going through your archives for the Fashion in Motion show has been like reliving all of these memories then? Is it quite nostalgic?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, it\u2019s quite fascinating actually and it is nice yes, nostalgic. There\u2019s a few things you look at and you think you can\u2019t believe you did them\u2026 Or, you can\u2019t remember doing them and it\u2019s quite nice to see them and then I suppose it\u2019s times of your life \u2013 because it\u2019s quite personal I think\u2026 All of my work feels quite personal to me. So you know some things do have certain associations with them. \u00a0It\u2019 beens quite a mammoth process going through literally 20 seasons\u2026 100 samples every season, that\u2019s something like 2000 pieces of clothing\u2026 It\u2019s kind of quite crazy actually. Then to try and condense that into a ten minute show\u2026 pick out the best bits \u2013 it\u2019s quite a project! It\u2019s quite nice as well, I kind of realise, ‘Oh I didn\u2019t know I had that!’. It\u2019s quite interesting now to try and recreate it.<\/p>\n What stories have you rememebered from different collections? Have you thought wow that’s amazing or even, I can’t believe I ever made that?<\/strong><\/p>\n Absolutely, there\u2019s one collection I did when I was on anti depressants, that I just hate, I can\u2019t even look at it\u2026 that collection is awful, I can\u2019t even go there. Not good. Then there\u2019s the couple of collections when I was going through a happier time in my life and they reflect that a little bit. It\u2019s also I think to do with where I was living for example\u2026 It\u2019s to do with situations and people I suppose. It kind of reminds you who you were hanging out with, what you were doing, where you were.<\/p>\n Sometimes good and sometimes bad then?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, that\u2019s life.<\/p>\n Which archive pieces are you most excited to bring back and share with people?<\/strong><\/p>\n Mmmm\u2026 there was a little dress I did with a sequin queen of hearts on it that I thought I\u2019d lost actually, but I haven\u2019t lost it so I\u2019m quite excited that I\u2019ve found that and pulled it out\u2026 Hopefully that\u2019s going to make the final cut. Also there\u2019s this very beautiful 1950s ‘pouffy’ dress with the most incredible floral embroidery all over it\u2026 it\u2019s one of the things I always thought was very beautiful. That again I thought I\u2019d displaced it and I hadn\u2019t and I found it \u2013 I\u2019m really looking forward to that, it\u2019s going to be quite beautiful!<\/p>\n Do you have a criteria for picking the pieces to go in the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think I\u2019ve just been picking all my favourite things and then lining them up and starting to put things together and see what works. I think it would be interesting to do it chronologically, so you see the earlier bits and then you move in to later things, but you can see the progression so that\u2019s one way I\u2019m thinking of doing it. But then visually, I want it to tell a story, I don\u2019t want it to be just fifty random things put together that don\u2019t make any sense. I think it needs to be done in a way where it makes visual sense. In terms of telling a story a little bit \u2013 it\u2019s going to be quite challenging but it will be fun also hopefully!<\/p>\n Do you aim to tell stories with your collections? Do you try to weave a narrative into your collections?<\/strong><\/p>\n Never consciously. When I\u2019m designing I never think ‘Oh she\u2019s this woman blah blah blah’, but it\u2019s kind of what happens\u2026 it\u2019s an organic process, so I\u2019ll design a collection and I\u2019ll have a vague idea in my head of where it\u2019s going and then I\u2019ll let it go there naturally and when I start putting it all together and styling it then this creation kind of happens. I think that\u2019s the most natural way of doing it so\u00a0it kind of tells its own story in a way. The clothes are telling their own story, and the character \u2013 in a way \u2013 comes out of the clothes. I think that\u2019s what happens more with me, I don\u2019t like to have this pre-imagined fantasy character in my head and then feel that\u2019s quite limiting in a way. If you do it the other way you don\u2019t really know where you\u2019re going to go, so I find that a bit more exciting.<\/p>\n In terms of talking about the Ashish woman, your casting is always so strong and on point, we’re\u00a0always really excited by who\u2019s walking in your shows. What kind of woman is the Ashish woman?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think it\u2019s somebody quite\u2026 I think the way I approach casting is more like casting for a film than a fashion show. Also, I\u2019m really bored. I find it extremely boring to do the whole 30 white girls, all the same looking, very generic, you know? Like a homogenized army\u2026 where you almost don\u2019t want personality you just want the clothes. I think the two, however, are so interconnected. Like when you wear a piece of clothing it does actually change the way you feel, and has got to do with the way you wear clothes \u2013 and everybody wears clothes in a different way\u2026 So I think that that is part of the story of fashion and clothes\u2026 It\u2019s who\u2019s wearing it and how are they wearing it. I think that\u2019s really important and it really effects what I like to see, you know you can put a dress on a girl and you can put the same dress on a boy and completely change it\u2019s v-neck. So, I think that context becomes really important.\u00a0When we do casting it\u2019s really important to think what you\u2019re trying to say with a piece of clothing.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a really interesting way of looking at it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes,\u00a0but I think in reality that\u2019s how clothes are worn. You know, when people say they love to watch people on the street\u2026 You know when you\u2019re sitting in a caf\u00e9 and people look interesting it\u2019s not always just what they are wearing, it\u2019s how they are wearing it and who they are, and what is it that is interesting about them? You can put a white t-shirt on two people and it can mean two completely different things. It can\u00a0be worn in two completely different ways. I think that\u2019s really interesting to me, and it makes it more like a movie, and also more real in a way. Actually, it\u2019s more like real life and we live in a really diverse multicultural city\u2026 you know if you get on the train on the way home you\u2019re sitting with lots of different types of people and I don\u2019t see why that shouldn\u2019t be reflected in fashion.<\/p>\n I think it\u2019s a bit weird having one model that isn\u2019t white at a fashion show. It\u2019s weird. It doesn\u2019t make any sense to me at all\u2026 It\u2019s almost like a token gesture\u2026 Just trying to be more inclusive\u2026 I guess people have their own vision and all that, but personally I don\u2019t find it very exciting or very interesting.<\/p>\n Maybe that\u2019s part of what keeps your shows so fresh then, that they are really reflecting the world you\u2019re living in at that time?<\/strong><\/p>\n Maybe, I never watch my shows though!<\/p>\n Hiding in the background!<\/strong><\/p>\n Well you have to be backstage! I always get jealous of the people watching it! I want to hide and watch the show myself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Your shows create quite a frenzy, but you always keep quite a low profile, is it important to you that your clothes and shows speak for themselves.<\/strong><\/p>\n I think I\u2019ve always just been quite shy and quiet\u2026 I don\u2019t really go to lots of parties\u2026 And, I wanted to keep a part of my life to myself\u2026 So I\u2019ve just always ended up keeping a low profile\u2026 and I\u2019m always a shy person, I\u2019ve always been like that. I get quite awkward sometimes in big social situations, so I guess that\u2019s probably why I keep quite a low profile.<\/p>\n Your instagram always makes us\u00a0laugh so much though, do you think having a sense of humour is really important in fashion?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think having a sense of humour is important in life in general! I think if you can\u2019t laugh about something you might as well shut it down\u2026 you know, what\u2019s the point? Life is fucked up and hard enough and I think it\u2019s nice to be able to have a laugh about things. I now it sounds like a clich\u00e9 but\u2026\u00a0Sometimes the best things are clich\u00e9s\u2026<\/p>\n \u00a0How did it feel to be selected for Fashion in Motion?<\/strong><\/p>\n It felt like a bit of a surprise\u2026 because I\u2019ve never done it before and it\u2019s been like ten years and then it came up and I was like oh yeah this is cool! Obviously I’m really pleased and it\u2019s a great honour to have been asked to do it, so I\u2019m super happy and super excited to be honest. I always think of myself as quite little, as quite niche\u2026 and I always think people don\u2019t really know what I do, so it\u2019s quite nice to be chosen in that way.<\/p>\n What are you most excited about the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n Im not sure actually\u2026 I think just putting the show together is the most exciting thing! Also I think it\u2019s nice to It\u2019s about the archive, and it\u2019s about you and I can be a bit more really\u2026 you know, if I want to really camp it up then I can camp it up or if I just want a disco soundtrack I\u2019ll have it \u2013 so it\u2019s quite nice in a way!<\/p>\n
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