JACK IRVING – THE VISIONARY FOR THE FUTURE

Jack Irving is so much more than a designer, he’s a true artist. Irving was first put on the map when he was still a student at Central Saint Martins (one of the most prestigious fashion and art schools in the world) and Lady Gaga wore his designs during her art RAVE: The Artpop Ball World Tour. She has since worn his designs many a time along other artists like Paris Hilton, Cheryl or the Space Girls. His designs or really pieces of art were shown at the V&A Museum and he even ventured into interior design when he collaborated with the W London Leicester Square hotel. Jack Irving designs are unique, bridge a gap between fashion and technology and look like they’re out of this world. His signature looks include inflatable pieces and feature a heavy dose of holographic and metallics. It’s impossible to go unnoticed while adorned in his pieces which is why stars and performers are obsessed with them.

I had the pleasure and honour of witnessing Irving’s designs live over the years of them being shown during On/Off fashion shows, a spectacle that normally features an array of up and coming creatives. This year during the London Fashion Week AW22 season however, On/Off decided to celebrate their 20th anniversary of supporting fresh talent by highlighting the work of Jack Irving alone and focusing on his vision as well as his foray into the NFTs (that’s right, you can get yourself a Jack Irving dress in the Metaverse too!) and his collaboration with a Hi-Fi speaker brand Rubyoung available at Selfridges. The collection titled Quixotic was showcased at The Ballroom at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House and consisted of 15 otherworldly pieces. The show opened with Jack Irving’s iconic Sea Urchin dress in purple being inflated to show the multiple spiky tentacles before being deflated again and dropped to reveal a silver metal plate corset and purple latex leggings.
There was no slowing down after that, there were more inflatable spikes, more latex, metal plates and rainbow holographic pieces which together with the techno music blaring created an amazing atmosphere. The last look was truly an icing on the cake with a silver metal plate bustier and silver metallic tentacles that were rotating around the model’s waist. Seeing all of the looks during the finale truly felt like a fever dream that I did not want to wake up from.

Written by: Magdalena Wieclaw
Photography by: Titus Akira