Blatant/Covert

Blatant/Covert is a collection which discusses – and is influenced by – the concept of supermodernism. The acceleration of events and history, the foreshortening of space and the excess of information and surveillance all play an active role in the thought process of creating each garment.

Axel Pasanen aims to accelerate past what is contemporary, culminating in a post-contemporary vision of the world. Pasanen draws inspiration from his surroundings, non-places, and spaces which one must travel through in the contemporary urban metropolis. Garments are designed to simultaneously protect,  store, conceal, be covert, be anonymous and be incognito, yet stand out.

• Stealth is blatant. Anonymity is in focus. Incognito in plain sight, I wanted to bring the concept of the covert to the forefront.

Pasanen obsessively and meticulously crafts digital simulacra of each item, brought into reality through means of unconventional garment-making.  Each garment and accessory exists initially as a digital representation, from which the physical copy is later brought to life. 3D pattern drafting, CAD, and sculpting software form the basis of the designer’s method. The items are brought out of the digital into the physical by utilising a CNC fabric cutter, 3D printing, and traditional sewing techniques.

Through virtual pattern drafting and design, new forms emerge from the acts of experimentation as well as trial and error. Working within the confines of the digital and learning to interpret how simulated garments eventually act in the physical world leaves room for the unexpected.

• Working from a digital-first perspective has allowed me to think about more than just the garment itself and visualise a complete whole before it is ever realised in physical form. Simulating virtual garments with a digital version of the accessories they will eventually be paired with allows them to interact in their simulated non-physical forms, influencing the design direction of both..

Axel August Zakarias Pasanen

axel.pasanen@aalto.fi

+358451234003

@axelzakarias