UNABURKE

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Autumn/Winter 2012 has seen the work of Úna Burke move forward a new direction. Her commonly restrictive silhouettes have developed into more fluid and gentle curves which wrap about the body in a softer and more effeminate collection. Using her skills in traditional leatherworking, Úna has created both spiralling and spikey forms inspired by watery imagery and her conflicting relationship with this element, powerful enough to both give life and cause devastation. In researching this subject Úna visited the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, in the aim of examining the many aspects of how our world has changed as a result of the sea. Here she discovered an amazing gilded vessel that influenced hugely, the aesthetic of this new collection. This most recent interest in water has come about due to a re-emergence of a past issue in Úna’s life. This issue is something which seems to be strongly linked to the level of stress in her day to day life and it takes the form of reoccurring nightmares of engulfing waves and violent tides. Ironically, from a very young age, in times of sadness, Úna was drawn toward the gentle and calming characteristics of water and she spent lazy hours as a teenager in her father’s gently swaying row-boat. Due to this love hate relationship, Úna uses softened lines within the collection, which meet with conflicting aggressive pointed corners. These fuse to create a collection of sculptural yet fluid body accessories. The irony of this love/hate relationship is equivalent to the life giving and life taking properties of water, and this idea is reflected in the spikey bow belt which, from a distance could be seen to be like a girly bow however on close examination it is comprised of several pointed sections that are more sinister than initially expected. During her trip to the National Maritime Museum, Úna was overwhelmed by an astonishingly elaborate gilded barge which was commissioned by Prince Frederick in 1732. Long after leaving the museum the detailing of this intricately handcrafted vessel constantly drifted into Úna’s mind as she created her AW12 collection. The opulent tones of Prune, Red, Gold and Green leathers have been influenced by the rich colours present in this barge and the repetition of the patterns created by the oars can be seen reflected in the patterns created by her placement of the brass fittings. This collection has been dedicated to a very special family friend who passed away in San Francisco last January. Kate McGuire was a truly wonderful person who found the light in every darkness and had a strength and positivity beyond belief. Her passing has put a lot of things in perspective and has given me a new sense of calm, helping me overcome my stormy waters, unleashing my creativity. Perhaps my attraction to the royal barge was somehow related to the knowledge that Kate was so proud of her roots which she had traced back to Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine……

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About the Designer

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Una is based in London, United Kingdom. She studied at London College of Fashion and graduated in 2009. Her collections are produced in United Kingdom.

Úna Burke is a luxury leather accessories designer who uses traditional leather-working methods and vegetable tanned hides. With her distinct construction technique of leather strips and brass fittings, Úna develops sculptural belt forms, jewellery, handbags and abstract body pieces. Her work is quite often concept based, with influence commonly taken from military sources and other physical and metaphorical methods of protection.
Born and brought up in North County Roscommon, in the west of Ireland, Úna now works from her studio in Earlsfield, South London. She completed a BA in Fashion Design at Limerick School of Art and Design in 2003, and then worked in several Irish and UK design studios including those of Philip Treacy and Burberry. Returning to study in 2007, Úna received a distinction in her MA in Fashion Artefact and her graduate collection, ‘RE.TREAT’, won the London College of Fashion “Off Catwalk Award for Design 2009”. In the following months, Úna was shortlisted for ITS #EIGHT, featured in Vogue Italia and invited by the editor Sara Maino, to present her work during Milan Fashion Week. Úna has since has won eight Design and Craft Awards, including Irish Designer of the Year 2011, and has been shortlisted for several other prizes both nationally and internationally. Her sculptural leather pieces have featured in exhibitions, catwalk shows, films, festivals and trend forecasting events throughout the UK and Ireland, and in France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Singapore, Hungary, the US, China, Austria, Greece and Hong Kong.
Most recently, Úna was nominated as “Breakthrough Designer” in WGSN’s “Global Fashion Awards”, with the final awards ceremony taking place on October 20th, in New York’s Gotham Hall. Her AW11 film, META.MORPH, featuring Úna's collection, was selected by Diane Pernet and her panel of industry experts, ASVOFF 4, and on September 18th, several of Úna's leather pieces were showcased in Singapore's 'World Runway Premiere' for Fox Network, helping to raise £25,000.00 for Japan Quake Aid.
In the past two and a half years, Úna’s work has been photographed by legends like Nick Knight, David Bailey and Francois Nars, styled by Patti Wilson, Nicola Formichetti, Charlotte Stockdale and Katie Grand. It has featured in top magazines including Vogue Italia, Harpers Bazaar, i-D, Grazia, Collezioni, Numéro, Arena and Dazed and Confused and Úna has also dressed high profile international personalities such as Daphne Guinness, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga.
Showing her first commercial collection in September 2010, Úna secured orders in New York, LA, Miami, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Milan and Dubai. AW11 saw that list extend to Singapore, Tokyo, Zurich, Copenhagen, Dallas and London.
Úna has just shown her Spring Summer 2012 collection 'BASTET' at London’s Somerset House and at Premiere Classe in Paris. This season Úna also collaborated for the first time with catwalk designer Philip Stephens for his brand ‘Unconditional’ and she will now begin work on an exclusive collection for the e-store of Joyce Hong Kong, which will launch in March/April 2012.