It’s a mash up of cultures. Think of it as 50’s teen fashion meets mexican old world, and you’ll get something close to Natalie Dawson’s inaugral collection “Frida is a Punk.” Already a fast favourite with Confetti Crowd and How Two Live, Natalie Dawson’s graduate collection is the perfect send up of fashion, art and music, all centred round the idea of a modern day teenage Frida Kahlo.
With Kahlo as a muse, Dawson draws on their shared Mexican heritage, bringing embroidery, oil cloth and inginous folk art. Mixed up with a 50’s teenage teeny bopper silouettes, the collection is a love letter to pop culture, art and Mexico. Candy brights are mixed with gingam and flashes of taffeta. For “Frida is a Punk” Dawson imagined a modern day Kahlo, and how a teenage Frida would dress. The result was a social media savvy fiction of Kahlo crossed with Tavi Gevinson, with a magpie attitude to fashion, cherry picking her favourite parts from her history and from conemporary design. Peasent blouses and full skirts are familiar enough, how take on a more modern take with the collection when contrasted with silver and pink metallics and heavy floral embroidery.
“Frida is a Punk” celebrates Dawson’s mixed heritage along with Frida Kahlo’s for a rich capsule collection. Blending old school techniques with a tumblr friendly aesthetic, Dawson’s collection inspires a love for exploration, personal history all while keeping tongue firmly in cheek, making her one upcoming designer worth getting excited about.