Of Cabbages and Kings

Named after a Kate Bush song, Under Ice is the latest offerings from this Perth originated, avant-garde fashion label.


1. Describe yourself in a sentence.

Two people who are completely different yet remarkably similar.

2. What is the first thing you ever designed?

We have known each other for ten years now, and we have worked on so much together since then, but I think the first thing we ever designed together were these awful clay mugs we had to make in our first year of high school, we helped each other out and designed them together. The funny thing was they both ended up exploding in the kilm and taking a few other students work out with them, needless to say we have never done pottery since.

3. How was your label conceived?

In a log cabin, in front of a blazing fire place, on a bear
skin rug, one cold winters night in 2005 when we both had too much
to drink.

4. Describe your labels aesthetic.

The OC&K man and woman are exaggerated projections of our own
sartorial interests which is something that obviously evolves and
changes over time, yet certain key elements seem to remain: extreme
silhouettes, an underlying darkness, and a constant preoccupation with
the natural, unnatural and the bizarre.

5. Tell us about your latest collection.

With this collection we started with a relatively dark subject
and then we worked out how we could explore elegance within the
materiality. We started by looking at the illustrations of German
naturalist Ernst Haeckel and the sirens paintings of Herbert Draper,
and then just continued to build from there.

6. Where do you draw your inspiration from?

We often find inspiration from the natural world, as well as things from the past.
But inspiration comes comes from every where and in so many different forms.

7. What is the best thing about what you do?

When we see someone walking down the street wearing one of our
designs that we have never met, it always gives you huge rush, it's
one of the best things.

8. What are you working on right now?

We have been working on creating costumes for a new band called
Fan Death and our next collection.
Also as we just moved to London we have been working on making new friends.

www.ofcabbagesandkings.com.au