Under-the-radar talent: Jenna Rankin. A masters graduate who demonstrates traditional ideas of function and silhouette of basic garments.
Jenna Rankin is a Masters Fashion Design graduate from The Glasgow School of Art. Her menswear collection draws inspiration from the relationship between clothing and wearer. She is particularly interested in the language of everyday dress, and the way in which we often wear clothing purely for practicality and function (for example; the suits). What is it that makes a suit a classic? It has multiple functions, and it’s appropriate for different age ranges and body types. It became a classic because it works no matter who you are.
This issue is in line with her explorations of the “uniform of the everyday” which focus on exploring and subverting traditional ideas of function, scale and silhouette of these basic garments. Inspired by the characters she encountered on the street, and the archive of vintage and well-worn clothing she collected and photographed, the collection gives a nod to utilitarianism while simultaneously, and conflictingly, embracing notions of the excess and the impractical.
Through systematic influence that clothes should be in the psychological process of the wearer, he created a menswear collection that demonstrates the ease and flexibility. This is the promise and opportunity of a capsule wardrobe which adopting the habit of wearing a uniform is a stylish, not vice versa.