Cute Characters Die An Ugly Death In The Compelling Crochet Sculptures of Patricia Waller.

We often think of knit or crocheted objects made with yarn, cotton and wool as cozy, comforting, even grandma-esque. But the works of artist Patricia Waller will most certainly shift that paradigm.

Aitor Throup Melds Art & Fashion In His First Menswear Line Of Shiva Skull Bags.

After 6 years in development, fashion illustrator, sculptor and designer Aitor Throup has finally launched his first long awaited menswear product line. The recent unveiling of his 2013 menswear product line in an exhibit called New Object Research, focused on his fabulous Shiva Skull Bags. Constructed in the shape of a human skull, the black and grey tweed bags with leather accents and zippers will be launched to few key influential retailers globally and are the first of his products to be marketed.




An installation of his Archetypal Shiva Skull Bag as it transformed over the years:

And a close look at them:








Aitor's design process is centered around innovative methods of design and construction, in particular a construction process which utilizes his own sculptures of the human body as a system for blocking garments. Below you can see the Shiva Skull bags placed upon his own sculpted mannequins:




More of Aitor's sculpted mannequins from the exhibit:


close-up:




One complete outfit was in the show (shown below) and will be available exclusively through Dover Street Market, with whom the designer is planning an exciting event to coincide with Frieze Art Fair in London in October, 2012:

The artist at work (photo by Neil Bedford):


An incredible illustrator, Aitor's daily sketchbook archives (a few of which are shown below)are simply beautiful and can be seen here on The Breaks or on his official Facebook page:




About Aitor Throup:
Aitor Throup was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1980. He arrived in Burnley, Lancashire in 1992. It was in Burnley that Throup developed a passion for labels such as Stone Island and C.P. Company. A mixture of Aitor’s interest in these products and his own passion for drawing led him to begin a BA in Fashion Design at Manchester Metropolitan University, from where he graduated with first class honors in 2004. In 2006, he completed an MA in Fashion Menswear at the Royal College of Art in London.

Aitor is fascinated with anatomy and his main interest is drawing. His hand drawn characters become the primary tool in the exploration of his ‘justified design philosophy’, which highlights the necessity of a reason or function behind all design features. Aitor's design process is centered around innovative methods of design and construction, in particular a construction process which utilises his own sculptures of the human body as a system for blocking garments.

Aitor Throup began working as a creative consultant with the British football brand Umbro in 2008, which led to his involvement in the concept and design of both the ‘home’ and ‘away’ football kits worn by England at the 2010 World Cup.

Aitor has won multiple awards over the years, including the ‘Collection of The Year Award’ and the ‘i-D Styling Award’ At ITS#FIVE (International Talent Support #5). He has worked as an art director/stylist with i-D magazine, Arena Homme+, V-Man, and GQ Style, and he designed the cover for the December 2008 issue of Dazed and Confused Japan, which also included an 8-page portfolio of his work.


Here's a nice interview with Aitor about the New Object Research exhibit at Dazed Digital

Some of the images in this post were shot by the talented UK photographer Neil Bedford, other images courtesy of Fashionmag and Aitor Throup Studio

Aitor Throup

Hirotoshi Ito Turns Stone Into Sculptures That Rock.

While running the family masonry business which crafts tombstones, memorials and religious statuary, Hirotoshi Ito has been creating and exhibiting his own stone art in Japan and abroad in hopes to promote the value of stones as an art medium. For his personal works, he use various kinds of stones ranging from granite and marble to ones he found at the Azusa riverbank near his home.




In some instances he carves marble with a deft hand, turning into fabric and garments. In other projects, he has 'opened' simple rocks turning them into precious containers. He enjoys mixing the stone with different materials such as zippers, dentures, and coins as you will see in the following images of his work.


above: Hirotoshi Ito's Laughing Stones are some of his most recent work

His ability to turn stone into the appearance of malleable substances such as food is both beautiful and compelling:





Adept at sculpting marble, he has given the following pieces the flowing appearance of garments, linen and paper:







Stone garments:






With the addition of zippers, Hirotoshi has turned rock into anything but a solid substance. Providing an opening, the rocks are 'unzipped' to hold coffee beans, marbles, coins, shells and more.












His most recent work are his "Laughing Stones":



You can purchase some of his zippered rocks at the online independent artists' store Iichi
Hirotoshi Ito website