Isabel Dunbar

Biography:

Isabel Dunbar is an Australia based emerging fashion designer that creates haute couture inspired garments by combining artisanal construction techniques with luxurious textiles. Tailored with attitude, each piece is designed for the wearer to live boldly and unapologetically. Integral to Isabel’s design process is extensive research into her personal zeitgeist and heritage. This is translated through the experimentation of deconstructing traditional fashion fabrics into highly textured, organic and monochromatic surfaces. Her designs interweave the boundaries of tradition and modernity with a focus on craftsmanship and readapting traditional remnant textiles. Sustainability, quality craftsmanship and authenticity are at the forefront of her design ethos.

Design Statement:

Hiraeth explores the connection between our reality and the grief of the lost places of our past. The collection shares the memories of Isabel's childhood in Bahrain, celebrating the culture, warmth and people who contributed to her identity. Bahrain’s vibrant crafts history, specifically in basket weaving, has been recontextualised as patchwork and lattice surface treatments. The collection draws inspiration from the rich embroidery and texture of Bahrain's traditional textiles, whilst exploring the concept of time. Time has been personified through repeating the motif of a flower, in which it blooms, grows and is intertwined throughout the collection.