LFW DiscoveryLAB Presents RUIRUIDENG Pre-Fall 23
@ruiruideng.planet Pre-Fall 23 #londonfashionweek
CRIMSON
The AW23 collection draws inspiration from the
1969 Soviet Armenian art film, “The Colour of
Pomegranates,” written and directed by Sergei
Parajanov, which portrays the life of 18th century
Armenian poet and troubadour, Sayat-Nova.
This biographical film of the Armenian ashugh Sayat-
Nova (King of Song) reveals the poet’s life visually and
poetically rather than literally. The film is presented
with very little dialogue and using tableaux which
depicts the poet’s life in several chapters: Childhood,
Youth, Prince’s Court (where he falls in love with a
tsarina), The Monastery, The Dream, Old Age, The
Angel of Death, and Death.
We named our collection Crimson.
The vibrant hues and idiosyncratic performance styles
in the film served as a source of inspiration for our
material choices this season. Parajanov’s film celebrates
the resilience of Armenian culture in the face of
oppression and persecution, and according to film
critic Frank Williams, “highly charged” specific images
from the movie include “blood-red juice spilling from
a cut pomegranate into a cloth and forming a stain in
the shape of the boundaries of the ancient Kingdom
of Armenia; dyers lifting hanks of wool out of vats in
the colours of the national flag, and so on”. The film’s
director, Parajanov, stated that his inspiration was “the
Armenian illuminated miniature,” and that he wanted
to create an inner dynamic that emanates from the
picture, the forms, and the dramaturgy of colour. He
described the film as a series of Persian miniatures.
The collection features our signature mermaid
lace, which we dyed scarlet and paired with a strong
silhouette to evoke the romantic flow of poetry.
BIOGRAPHY
Rui Deng is a London-based fashion designer who founded her eponymous brand, RUIRUI DENG, based on the mythology of alien mermaids arriving on Earth to explore art and life. Her unique perspective on life stems from her interest in complex and imaginative paintings with impressive surrealism, which inspired her future-oriented fashion brand.
After three years of honing her voice and mastering the fundamentals of the craft at the China Academy of Art, Rui secured a spot in the BA Fashion Womenswear course at Central Saint Martins University in 2015. The time spent there allowed her to greatly improve her skills, clarify her design style, and match the level of competition present in the fashion world. She also spent a year interning at Burberry as a Womenswear Runway Designer, gaining hands-on experience in running a fashion brand at an elite level.
The combination of practical experience gained during her internship and theoretical knowledge acquired at the university informed Rui’s development and prepared her to establish her own brand. Her brand is grounded in her deep intrigue about alien mermaids inhabiting Earth and reflects the confusion expressed by the mermaids when interpreting the human world, which she sees as a reflection of the expression in Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch’s paintings.
Cast
Alien Mermaid Lady @sanna.kelly
Crew
Director of Photography @dorisluming
MUA @vaxianshive
Facility Manager: Jane Hayes
Art Assistant @vickywongww
Sound Assistant: Jennie Law
Sound Engineer : Maya Belsitzman&Matan Ephrat
Set Design @mermaidflowerart
Sponsor Coordinator @viola.v
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