Roxanne Farahmand, crafting a brave new world

Celebrating its fifth birthday this year, Fashion East's Menswear Installations collaborates with Red Bull Catwalk Studio for the first time. With sweet music being made for autumn/winter 14, we caught up with each designer. The latest stop on the talent tour sees us poke around Roxanne Farahmand box of transformative treasure.

Related topicsRoxanne Farahmand View all Pierced, clamped, strapped, buckled and enveloped, Roxanne Farahmand's purposeful bling first caught the eye at last year's London College of Fashion BA Show. Focussing heavily on the male role in forgotten cultures and their development as a result of the digital revolution, the young talent produces accessories that are rooted in the human form. Exploring the future of prosthetics, her magpie's eye is interested in the function of the human body, mimicking and simulating it but also transforming the it for a new aesthetic. Carving out a brave new world of streetwear, we find her stepping onto Fashion East's platform. The revolution stars now.

Roxanne, what are upto at the moment, what are you listening to and what can you see from your studio window?
I am in a small studio behind Peckham Rye station overdosing on Lil' kim. I’m making sketches of 3D ideas, and outside the window I can see a girl having a go at an older boy. He’s not taking his hands out of his pockets.

To introduce yourself, please write a fake dating advert.
Hi I’m Roxanne, I'm a good-times girl, and looking for a good time. I also like long walks at night and the sound of waves.

What’s the last text message you sent?
"I dreamt everyone was a car and you all got crushed into cubes."

What's your favourite colour?
That mid point between grey and blue.

When did you realise you wanted to be a men's jewellery designer?
When I realised that jewellery took a new form and meaning when it was designed for men. Brutality, power and elegance spoke to me, and felt like home. Until then, I had never considered menswear, and I actually disliked jewellery design.

What's your earliest fashion memory?
Being 9 years old and designing imaginary costumes for Britney Spears to wear in concert.

What’s your biggest design inspiration?
The people i used to hang out with in London when i was a young teenager. For them, fashion was really an expression of their identity, and they used accessories for empowerment. To me this is the purest, most universal expression of fashion, and I always try to bring design back to this truthful place. Design has to matter to life.

How did you react when you got the call from Fashion East? Where were you, what did you? 
I was on the train on the way to sign on for my jobseekers! I feel completely humbled by the whole experience. It’s an honour to be recognised by the same institution who over the years recognised designers I follow and admire.

Did you enjoy thinking about the collection in a more holistic, multi-sensory way?
When I design, I am always thinking of the environment in which the object would be placed, so to have the opportunity to actually bring this into reality is so enjoyable and ‘total’. There’s a wholeness to these installations.

What excites you about the future of jewellery design?
Jewellery’s traditional lack of function means that it has always sat closer to art than the rest of menswear and womenswear. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens as we change the way we think, especially because the materials and devices we use to express ourselves will be changing just as fast.