Image courtesy Dinu Bodiciu & Lee Mun Wai

Fashion, music and performance art merge in ‘Shadowear’, a cross-cultural project created by Singapore-based Romanian fashion designer Dinu Bodiciu. A fashion launch performance centred around seven fashion looks, the project sees the collaboration of the man behind the famously extravagant hats of the Hunger Games movie series, with independent dance artist Lee Mun Wai and experimental musician Bani Haykal.

Inspired by the idea of two-dimensionality, ‘Shadowear’ takes the unique approach of using shadows as the basis on which clothing is created, rather than other mediums of projection such as the mirror, the photograph or the screen. Fittingly, it diverges from the conventional catwalk formula more frequently seen on runways, instead presenting as a performance animated with elements of music and dance.

Image courtesy Dinu Bodiciu & Lee Mun Wai

“This collection has to be understood from the beginning until the end, and therefore the way it is made public is very important,” explains designer Bodiciu. “This is the reason why I started talking with Lee Mun Wai about the ways in which he, as dancer, could express in various ways how these pieces could be experienced and addressed by a human body and, with artist & musician Bani Haykal, about how shadows could protrude from the physical world into the realm of sound waves. “

Working with artists from different fields of art helped invite different perspectives as well, Bodiciu says, adding that despite the challenges faced during the collaboration, it ultimately strengthened the project’s narrative.

‘Shadowear’ will present at the National Museum of Singapore on the 29th of July. Admission is free with registration.

Image courtesy Dinu Bodiciu & Lee Mun Wai

ilyda chua