Summer Wanless
Biography:
Summer Wanless is a Sydney-based fashion designer who has a passion for creating innovative couture pieces tailored to reflect her personal brand. Her focus is to create bespoke designs that showcase structural femininity by combining movement and balanced forms. Her style is simple in approach where she is sympathetic to flow and rhythm, complementing the female form through a flexible application of contrasting mediums that bring her garments to life. She has an eye for technical construction and a love for designing and illustrating pieces utilising bold shapes and colours that cleverly create a concept of growth proportionally reflected through the application of voluminous statement elements that are contrasted on contoured silhouettes. Her pieces are professionally created to the highest standard and are successful in exemplifying freedom and individuality. Summer is a recipient of an AWET (Australian Wool Education Trust) grant which has supported the development and ultimate success of her graduate collection.
Design Statement:
The collection, ‘Diffusion’, embodies a sense of structural femininity, reflecting the beauty of nature through flow and rhythm, bringing its pieces to life. Described as bold, romantic, and three-dimensional, the structural forms create bold shapes and proportions that reflect a concept of growth through voluminous yet sleek silhouettes. The high-contrast colour palette consists of vibrant yellow and orange tones, with an opposing electric blue achieved through a self-dying process. These bold colours draw inspiration from the ‘Strelitzia’, also known as the ‘bird of paradise’ flower. Focusing on the convergence of movement and stability, wool serves as the primary fabric due to its luxurious weight, natural properties and sustainability ensuring longevity. Wool fabrications include jersey, cashmere, and coating fabrics within the range. It is contrasted with a satin gazar fabric featuring an original print design. Pleating creates radial lines that diffuse, bringing the collection together cohesively. The silhouettes showcase gravity-defying patternmaking and construction techniques.
