The acerbic wit of Russell Sage is helping him remain sane whilst his star ascends. "I am," he confessed recently, " last season's Next Big Thing." Along with rallying against the appalling way designers in the UK are treated, Russell also gets riled about fashion's corporatism, all things retro, the dominance of stylists and customisation.
The masterful Mr Sage is a former member of the famous Archaos Circus, a one time antiques dealer ("I know a lot about antiques") and designer for Mulberry. He graduated with an MA from Central Saint Martins last year and his debut Fashion Week collection was entitled 'So, Sue Me' and featured some clever use of the Burberry check (they are now attempting to do this) along with slashed and trashed vintage Galliano, Nike and Hilfiger. Some pieces were driven over by cars and Russell also customised vintage fabrics for the collection.
For spring/summer 2001 he is imbuing each of his garments with a history and tagged the collection 'Russell Sage Is Making History'. "Each garment will have a genuine history whether it's dropped from a building or hand-printed on a pavement," he says. He recently parachuted from an aeroplane and is using the parachute fabric to make clothes.
Russell, along with nothingnothing designer Julian Roberts, has created an off-schedule showcase event which will be an exploration of fashion design beyond the catwalk. Entitled the 'Grey Area' the event is a multimedia mixture of fashion music and film at the ICA (The Mall London SW1Y 5AH). There are public shows between Monday 25th and Wednesday 27th September at 7pm. Check the ICA website for details. Tickets cost £5 and to book call 0207 930 3647.
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