London-born, Craig Green graduated the faculty and the MA at Central Saint Martin’s. He initially was interested in a portrait course, but ended by graduating fashion design. He said in an interview: “My internship with Walter was amazing! He is one of my design hero’s and even meeting him was exciting enough, but to be able to work closely with him and experience his design process was amazing. Walter is an extremely creative person and a great teacher, I learnt a lot there and I met some fantastic friends in Antwerp.”

photo craig-green.com

photo craig-green.com

Craig started making women’s clothes, but soon realized that he is more into men’s fashion: “Menswear just makes more sense – and the clumsy, chunky aesthetic of my work I find just works better on a man… Another point that has always interested me is ideals of masculinity and D.I.Y, I think growing up around so many tradesmen and my dad being a plumber has somehow influenced me.” He collaborated with Kokon To Zai, Adidas, Bally, Robert Wilson, Christopher Shannon.

photo dazeddigital.com

He works with raw materials or materials that are not finished in a way or another: wood, remains of textiles, threads, tape. He prefers the contrasts: dark materials mixed with light ones, black and white contrast, shiny and flat colours, teared up materials put together with materials that are impeccably sewed. In his collections, he likes to experiment and his characters seem to come from a world filled with fantasy and adventure: “I always start a collection or project with an idea of a strong visual, this may come from art, stories, horror or a mix of influence and then the ideas seem to grow from there.”

photo dazeddigital.com

In an interview, he talks about the way he became mature in his work, about the obstacles a young designer finds at the beginning of the career and about the contrast between his vision on fashion and the public’s expectancies: “A lot has happened in the last year and I think when you are pushed, when you leave the MA course and suddenly you are in the real world you have to stand by your work yourself and there is this realization that you have to sell clothes, it is a business at the end of the day. It is not a visual or a concept. I am slowly starting to find the balance between wearable – desirable clothing and also an exciting show. It can’t be so arty all the time that it is unapproachable to people. People should be able to approach and relate to it. Because it is fashion, not art. Although they blur into each other; fashion is much more fast-paced business with a lot of restrictions and art can be extremely slow paced with not a lot of restrictions. I guess restrictions within the fast paced fashion what makes it exciting as well. I have always looked at art, performance and sculpture for references. Whether it is the running order, the way I do a photo shoot, fabric or something I make for the show they all come from that kind of place.”

photo dazeddigital.com

photo catch-fire.com

photo craig-green.com

photo craig-green.com

“ARRRGH! MONSTERS” Project
photo craig-green.com

His advice for young designers is “Taking a risk. I don’t think people take risks anymore in fashion. People want to sell, of course I want to do that too but I think you should still take a risks.”

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Website: http://craig-green.com/

quotes vis dazeddigital.com

by Alexandra Ivascu

Alexandra Ivașcu is a fashion designer living and working in Cluj. She is pursuing her PhD at the University of Arts and Design, Cluj, studying the representation of the couple in contemporary art.

Website: http://www.ivascualexandra.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Artisallwehave