MARIA FRANCESCA PEPE

Maria Francesca Pepe began her own label by presenting her jewellery-ware in Milan, Paris, and London. Pepe sold to Henri Bende, Dover Street Market, Space Mue and others. Maria Francesca Pepe has created and developed one of a kind footwear, bags, womans wear and unparalleled jewellery to complement it. She is a relatively new international innovative fashion designer showing great creativity and skill in a range of fashion attire such as: women’s wear, bags, jewellery and footwear.

In her own words Maria Francesca Pepe defines her collection as “The concept of Jewellery-Wear. This is when jewellery becomes the primary focus of the outfit - featuring in ranges including bags, jackets and dresses. Most significantly though, MFP Tubulars have become iconic; “I constantly update them in new colours, textures, features and materials for the forthcoming season”. She has become well known for her “Jewellery-Wear” taking on a new concept for both Fashion Jewellery and Clothing that become inter- changeable pieces and essential designs for a new luxury ideal. The boundaries between clothing and accessories become blurred whilst retaining a contemporary functionality. All of her exquisite jewellery is made in Italy, claiming her Italian heritage as a signature influence on her creative aesthetic and identity with every piece is handcrafted to the highest standard by selected artisans and factories.

In her opinion there is continuity and a certain level of coherence between the two – ‘clothes like jewels are ornamental and jewels like clothes should be designed with wearabilty in mind.’ With this in mind I think it if fair to assume there is a connection with punk Subculture as there is the same theory of clothes being more durable and more than they are at 1^st glance. Although a lot of her work isn’t directly related or can be traced to being Punk or Punk influences as they have very clean cut and particular as opposed to the rough manipulated and extorted look punk subculture and fashion possessed however the fact that each piece is handcrafted relates to that of punk fashion as the whole idea of self manipulation of existing garments, materials ads look was about practically and physically breaking boundaries of communism and having a direct relationship to physical appearance.

The gothic-punk aesthetic has been surfacing as a trend for a while now and she does a really great job delivering that vibe in a much more elegant and avant-garde way than we are used to seeing. The clothing still serve as a minimalistic canvas to her jewellery however her use of colour and texture allow us to identify these themes in reference to her collections,

In an interview on Vogue the designer confessed to seeking ideas for forthcoming collections in London “Hardware shops and pharmacies are my favourite places to shop”. Instantly here the punk aesthetic of using hardware to create and adapt clothing comes to mind however I think the true punk rebellion and struggle has been commercialized from the grungy worn and abused fashion of merging cultures, fashion, social class and religion together. Thee are obvious relations to punk subculture in Maria Francesca Pepe’s A/W2011 collection where studs, chains and leather are used throughout her garments, accessories and jewellery however in her theme concept it is more about the magical world.