Laudate Dominum
Mary Martin London fashion is characterised by a noble and decisive advance in qualities recognised as quintessentially modern: self confidence, introspection, subjectivity and scepticism. It’s an experiment with novelty of form, content and artistic practice; contradiction and ambiguity; a radical reshaping of tradition; and in a reflection of the eponymous fashion artist’s personal life, a fierce search for freedom, justice and equality. Revolutionary reconceptualization. Mary challenges the wearer to ponder and interpret the physical and metaphorical layers of her artistry. Her vivid expressiveness and psychological candour permeate through each collection. There’s a newness, a stark originality framed in a knowingness of modernity and postmodernity, and yet paradoxically a mnemonic function that sets Mary’s clothes apart. The dark spaces of her dresses are penetrated by preternaturally strong light that cannot be explained in ordinary terms. They convey a certainty about humanity, nature, the cosmos, the Divine. A woman of faith, she calls upon Tetragrammaton for inspiration. Her story is an etiology of the phenomenon of nations as well. Mary Martin London fashion is more than an antinomic macédoine: it is a semiotic embrace of science and conviction made manifest in materiality, tactility and sartorial disruption.
Nobody is better placed – culturally, artistically, objectively – to talk about the latest exhibition at the V and A. “Going to Naomi Campbell In Fashion was amazing. It’s something that shouldn’t be missed. I really enjoyed it because as soon as I went in there I felt the sense of creativity with all the amazing designers … the top designers, the best designers of all time … Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Thierry Mugler. Everybody was represented! It was like being in the middle of Naomi’s wardrobe. Some of the styles on display are in vogue now but they were all before their time. Naomi has the aura – she is a fashion queen! She is made for the catwalk. Everything she is doing is amazing. I loved every single dress because I felt – oh this is where my world is! This is where I belong. And yes I belonged. I was happy to be there with my best best best friends Stuart and Janice! We had such a lovely time because we all love fashion and it was just amazing. And after we left we were talking about the show on the way home. Hats off to Naomi Campbell she is a fabulous person.”
Mary is featuring on billboards across Kensington as part of a campaign by Founderfest. Chief Operating Officer Cecil Adjalo relates, “I meet so many founders and it takes a lot of grit, perseverance. When you’re doing creative work it’s even harder. Mary really inspired me. It’s magical what she does. So I invited her to be a headline speaker at our annual conference. Founderfest is all about bringing entrepreneurial people together: founders, investors and also people from a corporate background. We are about connecting those people who wouldn’t have the opportunity to get the same privileges that others have when running a business. We promote opportunities with talent championing. After all she has been through and despite that she is so successful and doing fantastic things with her work. I knew Mary would be the perfect speaker! What she does is really magical.” On display at the V and A exhibition are The Plastic Dress, The Beads Dress and The Marilyn Monroe Dress. Next for Naomi Campbell has to be The Golden Nest Dress. By Mary Martin London of course.
