#ModaLisboa – AWAKE! Introducing Ninamounah, an Amsterdam-based label headed by creative director and designer, Ninamounah Langestraat, and brand director, Robin Burggraaf. www.instagram.com/ninamounah
COLLECTION 005 PT.2 | COMPLETE METAMORPHOSIS continues to transfigure the concept of Metamorphosis following previous conceptual explorations of the intersection between biology and fashion design. Bypassing evolution by synthesizing traits of our animal ancestors and our techno-future. Instinct lead the way, forced by a collective memory between all species.
Meta·mor·pho·sis: a morphological mutation, a time of dramatic change in form and appearance, affecting the core of one’s being. After the completed metamorphosis the transformation becomes visible. From larva to cocoon, the organism finally enters its final stage. A time of sexual maturity.
Shapes and proportions carry both robust stillness and fluid movement, like metamorphosing lobster. Adapting to its surroundings, our muse represents an infinite of possibilities. Motor references are visible in office wear, a shirt transforms into a high cut bodysuit. Draped looks are liquified into momentous designs.
Traditional shirting and tailoring comes with an exoskeleton of boning, creating dominant silhouettes and strong shoulders. A layered suit and a sleeveless puffer coat reference a protective shell still in the process of growth. Capturing a freedom of spirit, stereotypical staples are reinterpreted with a luxurious punk attitude. A matching shirt and tie combo paired with a hybrid of a pleated skirt and tailored trousers.
A disfigurement of the artisanal tradition. Pinstripe blues and blacks, herringbone browns and green and grey checks come in pure virgin wool and luxurious silks. Reinterpretations of the label’s key pieces, the garments are a natural extension of their archival counterparts. Ninamounah does not aim to reinvent itself drastically every new season, but chooses to slowly grow with time, opting to perfect and reinterpret its own core pieces.
The brand uses biological methods to dissect the deeper layers of the cultural mantle found in fashion design. Emphasizing instinctive and experimental strengths that transcend bodily and mental conventions and constructs. Ninamounah is making the unusual usual – transgressing comfort zones in fashion and exploring humans’ animalistic side.
Melting clashes and contrasts into new shapes that are extremely masculine, extremely feminine and everything in between. A threesome of leather motor suits, French corsetry and pinstripe tailored suits.
