Spartan, fit-for-purpose separates, uncanny fetishism, and bondage elements make for a bold first step into the industry for this emerging designer.
Julia Palm graduated in the top of her class at Otago Polytechnic School of Fashion. Julia is heading to New Zealand Fashion Week in August to take part in the ‘New Grad’ show to present an eight-piece collection. She’s created a Boosted crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds desperately needed to get to NZFW. The donations will be used for fabric and trims, a collaborative photoshoot and video with artist and filmmaker Ted Whitaker, as well as airfare for multiple trips to Auckland for NZFW.
Julia’s graduate collection ‘Leave the Dark and Holy Mountain’ was based on her family history, cult religion, with some bondage references. Julia went to Europe last year and was inspired by the brutalist architecture and the use of concrete in Prague, which informed her colour palette of grey and mint in her graduate collection.
The collection will be shown on the New Zealand Fashion Week runway, under her brand name JPALM. It will be an extension of her graduate collection. The new collection titled ‘Discordia’, will use human hair, PVC, leather and wool melton.
To create ‘Discordia’, Julia will be going back to the textile rituals from her punk culture background - studding, patches, and screen printing. “The handmade textile element of punk culture has informed a lot of my practices as a designer now”. ‘Discordia’ is a continuation of themes mined from a personal history, populated by experiences with the occult and the everyday. Photographs by local artist Esta De Jong will be screen printed onto patches, as well as an all-over digital print for her finale outfit. Julia is staying true to her use of unconventional materials, mixing it up with utilitarian shapes, and subverted by restricted necklines and tied waists. Julia describes her style as “thought provoking, dark, empowering, and with moments of fetish”.
Julia needs to send eight outfits down the runway, along with accessories and shoes. This is a mammoth task, with two to four garments in each outfit. “It’s a lot of work. The shoes alone —eight pairs!—are expensive.” At the time of the interview Julia had finished designing and had six weeks to throw this collection together.
“In my work I always seem to be reaching to my personal history, whether it’s punk aspects, or how I feel about my family history or Swedish heritage—I feel like it makes my work more authentic and coming from somewhere original and genuine”.
To donate or share Julia’s Boosted crowdfunding campaign, visit: www.boosted.org.nz/projects/get-julia-to-nzfw
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JPALMDesign
Insta: @_jpalm_
Email: info@jpalm.co.nz