October 15, 2009

E.S.S Laboratory


The Melbourne based Ess. Laboratory, design duo from Japan, have created a space that encapsulates their love of architecture, music, photography, film and industrial objects. The move to 114 Gertrude Street will see them expand their womenswear, their leather accessories and menswear line.
Hoshika Oshimi established the label in 2001. She showed her first collection Spirit of the Beehive in Melbourne where she has since presented her women's collections. Her collaborative partner Tatsuyoshi Kawabata, renowned for composing music for television commercials, animated works and films in Japan, composes music for all Ess.Laboratory shows and soon became a part of the design team in 2003. Oshimi and Kawabata have an obvious desire to defy any commercialisation of their work. Surrealistic ideas are translated into unorthodox shapes, unexpected cuts and forms, and by the same token, Ess.Laboratory's clothes are always wearable and timeless. To them, fashion is not seen as something that is superficial but a search for the essence of it. This means both research in the fabric as well as the investigation of the idea of clothing itself.
ESS.Laboratory is proudly designed and manufactured in Australia using the highest quality fabrics sourced from Italy and Japan.