ALEXI FREEMAN

Alexi Freeman is a Melbourne-based fashion designer whose collections for women are manufactured locally incorporating elements of hand drawn & printed textiles worked into drape juxtaposed with tailoring. Since beginning his odyssey from fine artist to fashion designer Freeman’s professional experiences have taken him from the Diemen isle to the Bronx and back again. It is this bricolage of experiences that planted the seeds of his fascination and seemingly inevitable decision to push all other interests aside to marry himself, irrevocably, to the innovation of contemporary fashion.

Formally trained in Fine Art at UTAS majoring in print-making and sculpture (1996-2004)
Freeman’s practice heavily referenced fashion concepts and aesthetics, producing limited edition prints and garments before receiving the manufacturing Design Fund from Arts Tasmania (2005). The metamorphosis from Fine Art to ready-to-wear was a seamless progression for Freeman’s creative vision resulting in the genesis of the ALEXI FREEMAN brand (2006).

Freeman’s unorthodox approach to fashion maintains the essence of the vernacular
he developed as an artist. Drypoint etching techniques are utilised in the design and production of textile prints. illustrations dating back to Freeman’s art practice are reinvigorated on an ongoing basis influencing garment, styling, hair and make-up concepts in his collections. pattern and motif are informed by his cultural heritage as an extension of explorations begun as an artist.

An un-inhibited approach to construction is embraced, resulting at times in painstakingly labour intensive garments that not only reference the impossibility of the artists hand but simultaneously pursue a level of workmanship and attention to detail synonymous with high fashion.

Freeman’s raison d’être is to lure fashion into bed with art, catalyse the rise of understated avant-garde and popularise the notion of urban couture, all the while empowering and paying homage to the modern woman, in all her incarnations.

Freeman’s garments are dyed, printed, cut and sewn in Australia, produced with Australian textiles and yarns wherever possible, and ethical working conditions, design longevity and sustainability lie at the heart of the ALEXI FREEMAN label.

Freeman was a recipient of the Arts Victoria Traveling scholarship (2007) following
an invitation to attend the Bay of Fires workshop led by paris based Haute Couturier
Maurizio Galante. Winner of the Caulfield Classic style people’s Choice Award (2008),
recently named in The Age as ‘the next big thing’ and ‘ready to explode’, a top ten
finalist in the SOYA Fashion Awards (2009), selling to select boutiques in Australia,
New Zealand and Russia, and having opened their first AF boutique in Melbourne’s
GPO (2009), the ALEXI FREEMAN label is a brand on the rise.

“The ALEXI FREEMAN label explores directional elegance for women who are
enamored by the past, but lust after the future. it’s versatile clothing for the modern age, where comfort is everything but if it doesn’t make you feel sexy, then why even bother? it’s a sporty take on film noir, for an old fashioned girl who has just seen colour for the first time and still has stars in her eyes…”