Basso & Brooke: a decade of digital design
British fashion designer Chris Brooke and Brazilian digital artist Bruno Basso first met in 2002. Season after season, their London-based fashion label has pushed the boundaries of cut, shape and print. The influences for their imagery are absolutely global, sourced from road trips, international motifs and archives. The Basso & Brooke design studio continues to expand with accessories and interiors ranges. We asked them to delve into their digital print archive and spoke to them about some of their most memorable imagery.
SOMA – SPRING/SUMMER ’08: This print is from our collection based on Huxley's dystopian novel Brave New World. The title “Soma” refers to the fictional hallucinogenic narcotic in the book, used by those in power to subdue the citizens in Brave New World's futuristic, totalitarian setting. In the print, each “pill” is composed of different geometric elements inspired by Bauhaus aesthetics. We imagined that each pill would offer individual imaginary adventures and, as a consequence, each would have its own unique side-effects.
GEISHA SMALL TALK – SPRING/SUMMER ’09: We were inspired by a short story about geishas we read at the revered Hiiragiya Ryokan in Kyoto. The story described how, more than the pursuit of beauty and grace, or the entertaining of guests with poetry and music, the geishas of Gion had a strong sense of vanity and competition between them – and they loved to gossip mischievously. The print depicts abstract geisha faces, with radical strokes of colour connecting their mouths, representing this “small talk”.
MIKADO – SPRING/SUMMER ’09: From our collection “High-Tech Romance”, this print refers to the Japanese notion of flow, laws and metrics of their aesthetic. The idea was to create a highly colourful, simplified and contemporary take on Japanese Art Deco, the result being a final, bold and polished image both fluid and rigid, which incorporated a collage of classic oriental patterns – balancing the demands of tradition and modernity.
SOAP OPERA II – AUTUMN/WINTER ’09: This is from the collection “Le Roi Soleil”. The inspiration for this print is a playful, cheeky take on French Rococo style. Developing first in the decorative arts and interior design as a result of changes to artistic fashion brought about, initially, by Louis XIV, the ideal of Rococo was rooted in sugary prettiness rather than in a concept of classic beauty, and to indulge the senses with its delicate and melodramatic embellishment.
MINUET – AUTUMN/WINTER ’09: We wanted to evoke the movement of a “Minuet” - the golden sinuous lines represent the dainty movement of this dance. Within the “dance” there are glints of gold trellises and armoured scales, ormolu furnishings, pearls, laurel leaves, antique lace and plush furs which, at times, reference the fragile porcelains of Sèvres and Limoges, and even the intricate craftsmanship of Faberg. We imagine these are the frivolous secrets that are whispered between the dancing partners.
CARAVAN – AUTUMN/WINTER ’10: This print was inspired by our Silk Road trip. An allegory of a razor-sharp bricolage of all the products of mankind’s manufacture: textured leather fades into chainmail; woven textiles merge with angled metals; sumptuous snakeskins graduate into gleaming marble, fur, wood and woollen knits; the synthetic and the natural converge.
CULT OF THE ONE-EYED CAT – SPRING/SUMMER ’12: Also inspired by our Siberian trip. In this very remote no man’s land, we imagined a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure, in this case the almighty one-eyed cat. This is a kind of playful critique of a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing in our contemporary society.
ART OF THRILL – SPRING/SUMMER ’12: Inspired by our Siberian adventure. Amidst its bleak and brutal landscape, the formal foundations for this print explores hard, angular lines, sharp contrasts, icy strong structures – the Russian constructivist essence – mixed with impossible and colourful dreamy interjections. Hard-edged foliage mixes with draped silk and other man-made textures, clashing over cold faded sunlight.