SPACE MAN: Tavares Strachan is getting into fashion. The Bahamian artist has created a capsule collection and installation of six bomber jackets showing in Paris.
“I never thought I’d be producing something that people would wear,” said Strachan at a preview of the installation at the Crillon. “I don’t see this as fashion to me, this is sculpture.”
Branded under the name B.A.S.E.C., for the Bahamian Aerospace and Sea Exploration Center Strachan created after undertaking cosmonaut training a few years ago, the project is staged by edgy trade fair CIFF under the tagline “The Northwind Trilogy.”
Curated by Neville Wakefield, the three-part project was unveiled at Art Basel Miami in December before hitting Paris and will head to CIFF in Copenhagen at the end of the month.
The jackets were created in collaboration with the artist’s mother, and have a social as well as commercial ambition. Crafted by local women, money raised from their sale will be used to fund training initiatives for women in the island nation and inject resources into boosting local production.
Fewer than 600 jackets will be produced in total, and they will be offered to select retailers worldwide that can support the installation concept. They will sell for around $2,000
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