United Bamboo

October 18th, 2009

BACKSTAGE AT THE FALL 2009 RUNWAY SHOW
Words Susan Locht Images ioulex

It’s 10 a.m. and we’re some of the lucky few backstage at the United Bamboo Fall/Winter 2009 women’s runway show. The never-before-seen organdy blouses, tweed jumpers, and jacquard skirts and dresses – 29 striking looks in all – hang on rolling racks, steamed and sorted and ready for the catwalk. Each ensemble is assigned a model, and each model takes a turn with the hair and make up team, stopping once and a while to have a photo taken for one of the many news media covering the event. Thuy Pham and Miho Aoki, the designers behind the 11-year-old label, are also here, of course, giving interviews and posing for photographers.

Show production staff mill about, armed with headsets and to-do lists, and various VIPs file by to wish the designers well: Purple editor Olivier Zahm, musician Sean Lennon, Sex and the City stylist Patricia Field, Rita Ackermann, James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins, and artist Terence Koh (who happens to be the face of the United Bamboo men’s campaign). But despite the charge in the air, inevitable with such a large production only minutes away, the place is quiet. The only sounds are blowdryers and soft conversation. There is no shouting, no pacing, no flailing of arms. But this is supposedly par-for-course with United Bamboo, whose designers will only work with simpatico people – calm and relatively laid-back. Collaborators on this particular collection and show include the Confetti System, an artist group that created the dreamy, geometric backdrop, James Iha, responsible for the show’s soundtrack, and Rita Ackermann, who designed the graffiti-inspired prints featured in the collection.

Back at their studio in SoHo a couple of days later, Aoki explains that despite the show’s serene atmosphere, she wasn’t entirely cool and composed. “I always get nervous before a show, no matter how much preparation we do,” the designer confesses. And, like any project, there are always small glitches and last minute stresses. “One of the shoes we had a model in were too big, and they were coming apart right before she walked out onto the runway. She walked in them anyway, carefully, and they were completely broken by the time she finished.” But, from a front-row vantage point, no one noticed. All we saw was the preppy, quirky, and slightly masculine collection passing by, head-to-toe, on model after stunning model.

http://www.unitedbamboo.com/