Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1024601
culturedmag.com 205 COURTESY PERES PROJECTS, BERLIN sportswear of Bonnie Cashin or the dresses of Madeleine Vionnet. That's why our clothes are so ordinary—it's their presentation that activates their inner meanings." Photographers Zoe Ghertner and Josephine Pryde lead the way at the Serpentine. Lipscombe and McKenzie asked the artists to shoot their new collection—cashmere and nylon tracksuits, soft jackets and 3D-printed cameo necklaces—as they saw fit, and then bound the results into an accompanying publication which will be published after the exhibition. Of course, it wouldn't be Atelier E.B if the designers didn't invite the public to join in, which is why they designed Cleo's, an app that allows users to upload and share their own fashion images without the pressure of likes or follower counts, and that encourages meeting in the real world. This digital extension of "Passer-by" underlines what separates Atelier E.B from other independent labels like Bless, Bernadette Corporation and Susan Cianciolo's RUN, which in the late 1990s sought to use the vocabularies of art and fashion to subvert both. Atelier E.B's goals aren't simply about disruption, labor or displacement, but rather about establishing a sustainable network for cultural exchange. One doesn't need to look further than Lipscombe and McKenzie's list of thank yous— a slew of Scottish and Belgian manufacturers, umbrella makers, Ratti silk printers as well as the fashion house Vionnet—to see the full picture. Atelier E.B isn't a language but a village: a joint purpose that allows individuals, including its founders, to flourish. "The truth is, I would have probably given up my own label and still be teaching or freelancing for others," Lipscombe says of Atelier E.B's collaborative nature. "It's a lonely business working on your own. What I enjoy so much about Atelier E.B is that Lucy and I work on it in isolation but then come together to share and discuss. If I still had my own label the garments would not be the same as we produce for Atelier E.B. Atelier E.B is two points of view, tastes, experiences, skill sets." Friendship forms the center of Atelier E.B, which is why perhaps the project resonates with me as a kind of sisterhood, one that seems to extend across centuries and binaries. Walking home past the mannequin shops that line 25th Street, I see my neighbors like never before. They are praying, lunging and leaping in yogic postures—twisting themselves into unfamiliar shapes in the dark. We are all synchronized. A portrait of McKenzie and Lipscombe as a film still by Martin Clark.