Spring/Summer 12 sees Central Saint Martins and Goldsmiths graduate Mia Jafari mark her Ready-to-Wear design debut with ‘Waterlilies’, a collection of seductively playful silk dresses encapsulating the spirit of romance. The collection of abstractly painted and digital rendered blouses, skirts and dresses utilize Jafari’s training in both design and art. Combining actual paint and embroidery with digital manipulation on ballooned silk georgette blouses, micro mini ruffled dresses and draped vintage inspired silk dresses, ‘Waterlilies’ oozes Jafari’s playful aesthetic whilst evoking a more mature and sophisticated elegance.

‘Waterlilies’ invites you to take refuge of a peaceful meditation in the center of a enchanted, flowering aquarium. The women who take the stage make their entrance as Monetesque paintings in full bloom, misty eyed, drapped in swirling colours of the same hues, evocative of the essence of playful romance. They are attending gardens parties in the heat of the Parisian summer, drapped in painted dresses, with a wild, tropical flower in one hand, Martini on the rocks in the other. The silhouette is deceptively simple, ballooned, pleated blouses worn under high-waisted skirts, with pockets and draping adding a new dimension to the silhouette. 1950’s vintage cuts are given a twist with knots, folds and drapes. Digi-droidery: the innovative technique coined by the designer to describe a truly unique dimension to her work, where Eastern embroidery meets cutting edge digital print, is further developed in this collection. Swarovski crystals, intricate hand embroidery and embellishment on necklines are layered over digi-droidery to create the feel of oversized embellishments. Through digi-droidery’s hype-real aesthetic, Jafari pushes new boundaries to create distinctive prints, rich in cultural reference and craftsmanship. 

In Jafari’s collection shading is essential to the colour palette, turquoise turns to bright green to dark green as they progress across the silhouette. Flashes of bright turquoise and intense yellow contrast against an soft evaporating background. Play is ever present is this collection, an embroidered Christian Louboutin dangles from a branch on the neckline of a 1950′s dress, embroidered ladybirds form the hemline of another, the unexpected suddenly becomes the norm to form one meditative state of beauty.

 The finish of each garment is highly refined in Jafari’s debut collection, deceptively tight silhouettes with pleats and drapes produce an exciting collection exploring colour, texture, craft and form.