Cultured Magazine

204 culturedmag.com Beca Lipscombe first laid eyes on Lucy McKenzie at an opening in 2000. The recently graduated designer was on the lookout for someone to model for her eponymous label. McKenzie agreed, but soon their friendship developed beyond that of muse and designer, transforming in 2007 into a collective fashion project they call Atelier E.B, named after the cities where they live (Lipscombe in Edinburgh, McKenzie in Brussels). In hindsight, the white cube feels as fitting a birthplace as any for a line that circumvents fashion's exploitative production pitfalls by aligning itself with fine art and leveraging its preoccupation with method and material. "Through Beca I learned about the fashion industry and processes," McKenzie says of Atelier E.B.'s roots. "We started to collaborate when it became obvious we had a similar interest in local history and attitudes to things like self-sufficiency and transparency." Whereas Lipscombe and McKenzie still maintain their own practices as an independent designer and an artist represented by Galerie Buchholz and Cabinet, Atelier E.B operates as a space for promoting shared concerns, including the preservation of indigenous crafts and rethinking traditional display and dispersion strategies. Over the years, the duo's ideas have manifested themselves in forms ranging from garment design to immersive pop-up boutiques, furniture, zines and sculpture. This October, all these elements will coalesce for "Passer-by," the pair's solo presentation at the Serpentine Galleries in London. Rather than follow some loose chronology, the survey-like exhibition focuses its attention on a longtime fascination of Atelier E.B: the mannequin, culture and commerce's most overlooked muse. "As fashion designers, we understand how problematic it is to display clothing, whether it's a photoshoot we are producing or how it hangs in one of our boutiques," Lipscombe says of the exhibition's theme. "I think when you look at the mannequin and its history you tap into this ongoing, contentious dialogue surrounding the body and its connection to value and taste. We wanted to tease out that history but use the pieces to create our own alternative narrative. We wanted to leave room for mannequins to play partner rather than surrogate." In this way, "Passer-by" stands as a subjective history of the mannequin, its displays and its connection with fine art. Fact and fiction mix to the point of hallucination in this show structured as an IKEA-like parkour. Lipscombe and McKenzie dedicate the first chapter to creating context around their hero. Using vintage models and images mined from extensive research into early window displays, they illuminate the evolution of marketing tropes. Their final installations, which strike the balance between department store and natural history museum, conjure the stately world pavilions where some of these products—and prejudices they engendered—were first shown. "What struck us when looking into the history of mannequins was their relationship to the World's Fairs," McKenzie says. "Department stores were just being formed, so even their design felt revolutionary. It's at the World's Fair where people began establishing the vocabulary that we still see today." As soon as the conventions are set, Atelier E.B dismantles them, introducing its own interpretations. They asked for help inviting friends like Tauba Auerbach and Marc Camille Chaimowicz to create mannequins who wear examples from past collections. "What surprised me is that no one submitted a standing figure," McKenzie says of the new sculptures. "In the past, we've also been attracted to a lounging position, but it was interesting to see our friends echo this impulse for a more casual posture." Emblematic of its creators' reverence for the artisan's imagination, this avenue of commissioned figures foreshadows the grand finale: an operational atelier where visitors can try on and purchase garments from Lipscombe and McKenzie's latest collection. "It was important to us that there was a space in the exhibition for a more intimate interaction with the clothes," Lipscombe explains. "We created an interior where you can have that human exchange between customer and sales clerk. Atelier E.B has always been about this kind of call-and-response to our customers." It's true. Rather than eschew the utilitarian diktats of fashion in the name of being avant- garde, Lipscombe and McKenzie embrace a comfort-first approach. The designers believe that it is ultimately the owner who provides context and value to their garments. "I understand that some people expect or want fashion to be entertaining or challenging in the same way as fine art is," McKenzie says. "But I'm more interested in fashion that generates its own internal logic and is about the feelings and experiences of the wearer, as with the A look from Atelier E.B's project "The Inventors of Tradition II Collection," 2015 PHOTO BY ROB SMITH

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