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Backstage at IVAN HUNGA GARCIA SS24 at ModaLisboa à la carte

Vivid touch, warm yet distant - Neohominidae universe

Ivan Hunga Garcia’s collection is an ode to the beauty of nature and its profound relationship with humanity. It doesn’t just incorporate nature into its aesthetic, it also invites us to contemplate our role in preserving it.

Beauty Antonia Rosa and team using Clarins

Hair Helena Vaz Pereira and team at Griffe Hair Style using L’Orèal Profissional Paris

Ivan´s creations are a fusion of research-orientated fashion and a tribute to heritage. In 2022 they presented “Botanical Apparel” in ModaLisboa’s Sangue Novo competition a prequel to what we saw now for SS24.

The new project, “Vivid touch, warm yet distant”, was showcased at Galeria Monumental, away from Pátio da Galé, ModaLisboa´s main venue. The collection featured seven distinct looks and characters, each of them dedicated to what Ivan describes as: “A collection of seven type-characters represents the new generation of the Neohominidae community, promoting the projectual and anthropological re-evaluation of their everyday rituals. The plot is propagated in the honouring of predecessors and historical heritage within codes and visual studies.”

The influence of “Land Art “ is a vital factor in understanding the empirical approach to raw materials of the garments and their creative direction within the Neohominidae universe. The earthy, herbaceous colours in the palette convey a sense of harmony and balance with the natural environment, and the textiles evoke tactile sensations from the plant world.

Ivan about his collection:

Vivid touch, warm yet distant
For how long do you remember the smell of someone,
When did you notice you have forgotten?
And how fast it all flashes in a sensorial trigger, abstracted yet confining.

After all it was only a memory,
both recollecting the past and projecting to a newer reach.
A future memory and a past premonition.

That limbo
A timeframe that can be considered a double nostalgia.
Nostalgia is always prone to decision making
even if the outcome is stepping out from it.
It reminds you of what you want, what is next and what you once had.
That is how we’ve realized it’s a memory
even when generationally speaking, we consciously lost sight from it.

The garments come to life via a plant-lab in Ivan’s studio, some textiles are crafted with gelatine-based resin and dried kombucha scoby´s in collaboration with Aquela Kombucha. These unique methods of creation demonstrate Ivan’s commitment to sustainable and unconventional fashion practices. The models become part of the natural environment, with grass and baby alfalfa carpeting them, and dark, wrinkled skoby skin-like bodices wrapped around them.

Earlier this year ZOOT invited this unique designer for a very special editorial collaboration. For “Amplifying Insecta” Ivan developed botanical garmets, helping to transform our models into insects.