The circus is at the forefront of every design project undertaken by Jake Birks, with his SS19 womenswear collection evoking a sense of nostalgia and intoxication influenced by festivals, fairgrounds and circuses. The designer, who is originally from a village called West Lilling on the outskirts of York, likes to work on the stand to manipulate fabrics to create elegant and bold silhouettes with ruffles and gathers.
The background design aesthetic has been influenced by the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi, which is about finding beauty in imperfection. The dominant concept of regression accented by Wabi Sabi has formed the basis of the source of inspiration for his collection.
Silhouette plays a big part in Jake’s collection. He has looked at a variety of circus and festival costumes, combined together to create new shapes with added volume. The colour palette has been inspired by the glitter and metallic colours regularly seen at festivals, used as embellishment on black fabrics.
Jake’s collection is aimed at women with an expendable income, having the elegance of an evening gown mixed with loud statement pieces.
He completed a four-month placement at Christopher Raeburn while at University, as well as a four-month placement at Beautiful Soul London.
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