Despina Chatzidakis `Off the Wall ´collection is inspired by the Elizabethan Era and the 1980’s downtown New York scene. She chose these juxtaposing concepts because of the ideology behind them and the link of status, identity and rebellion they both share. Elizabethans including Queen Elizabeth had no say in what they wore, their clothing symbolised what wealth they had and what social status they held. Their extravagant silhouettes and adorned clothing inspired the designer to further explore this era of historical fashion and understand the careful craftmanship involved. In the 1980’s, New York was the only city with a major hiphop scene and was where hiphop culture first originated and evolved. This ‘culture’ includes hip-hop artists, ‘street wear’, and the graffiti boom. Graffiti was an illegal trend which marked an iconic era and ended with a total graffiti wipe out. Streetwear being an aesthetic that continues to remain a solid trend in contemporary culture inspired the designer to reinvent it with the evolution and juxta-positioning of old and new decades.

Size 36 ( UK 8)