RAVISHING_MAD

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The SS11 collection from Ravishing Mad sees the brain child of Swedish designer Anna Österlund take determined steps towards a more sinister expression, embracing elements of d.i.y. punk and urban dystopia in combination with the tongue-in-cheek avantgarde flair of previous collections. It is a "fuck you very much and goodbye" to good manners and to any habits of putting on the happy face. Inspirations draw from the raw and passionate anger of "The Decline of Western Civilization" to the pounding melancholy of The Cure's "Pornography" over the slacked-off aesthetics of grunge rock and the mad beat genius of Allen Ginsberg. The collection offers 10 denim styles in colours like bright red, black, airbrushed grey and print/wash combination blue. Well-known for the draped big pocket jeans with extremely high waist Ravishing Mad continue to incorporate the draped cuts. Key garments include oversize plaid shirts with assymetric "drunk buttoning", unisex ass-door jumpsuits and mesh hoodies with huge sagging pockets. Prices are in the upper mid segment and the collection will be out in stores in February 2011. Location photos by Caleb Eike Smith www.calebshoots.com

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About the Designer

Anna is based in Malmö, Sweden. She studied at Swedish School of Textile and graduated in 2006. Her collections are produced in Portugal.

Ravishing Mad is a denim based brand that works closely with underground musicians, artists, photographers and film makers alike in devotion to experimental creation for the benefit of every party involved.
People involved with these, often hilariously entertaining, and indeed ravishingly mad design projects are frequently switching places and either modeling, contributing with music and/or in charge of the camera documenting the process.
Although adhering to Swedish design traditions of high quality, clean lines and stressing functionality, designs are deliberately pushed further, incorporating strong accent colours and straying from the strictness of traditional cuts. The collections offer both women‘s, men’s and unisex styles, in ready-to-wear as well as more extreme versions.
The label was founded in Malmö, Sweden by designer Anna Österlund after graduating from the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås and the first collection was presented in 2008. She now runs Ravishing Mad with her husband Truls Bråhammar.
Explaining the philosophy behind Ravishing Mad, Anna Österlund states:
“... I don’t like to divide my life into sections, I live it blurred. Work and fun can happen at any time, so I really don’t think there is any need to label it. I go play with my friends, or work, we might sometimes call it work and sometimes not. It evolves into music for some of us, or photos and videos, and some in clothes, or we just mix it all. I love these collaborations and look for them everywhere! I also do two major collections a year under the label Ravishing Mad (and denim is my thing). I show them at the fashion weeks of Paris, New York, Copenhagen and Berlin, but prefer the guerilla way, the anti-fashion way, the fun way.”
Danish designer and multi-artist Henrik Vibskov was one of the first to discover the Ravishing Mad denims and has been stocking them in his stores in Copenhagen and Olso since the very first collection.
Since then Ravishing Mad has also been available at Urban Outfitters online, Delta in Tokyo, Rac boutique in Toronto, TG-170 in NYC, PotiPoti in Berlin, Bespoke Boutique in Norwich and many more.