By Jenna Black
Do you love comfortable basics but don’t want to substitute great style? Bassike show you how with their range of luxury wardrobe staples.
Background and History
Bassike is a label that takes basic essentials and fuses them with fresh and innovative silhouettes and fabrics. Established by designers Deborah Sams and Mary Lou Ryan, Bassike turns your everyday essentials, like t-shirts and relaxed pants into fashion forward collectables. Both Deborah and Mary Lou began the label in July 2006 after gaining extensive experience working for cult label Ksubi. Their background working for an edgy youth focused label clearly resonated through to the Bassike aesthetic.
Style and Philosophy
Raw silk t-shirts and basic androgynous designs dominated Bassike’s earlier collections, with the designers actively seeking out organic fabrics to construct each piece. Adding excitement to an otherwise bland arena of high end basics, Bassike have quickly emerged as a modern unisex label across Australia.
The Bassike aesthetic is earthy and uncomplicated, with the designers noting that their silhouettes ‘are inspired by the modern guy and girl, keeping in mind what is relevant in their lives and what they would want to wear.’
With a focus on providing luxury basics with a clear youth market in mind, Bassike have also catered for a more sophisticated shopper, with a keen eye for innovative design. Each unisex collection has chosen a neutral colour palette of whites and greys, with wardrobe staple black. What begun as a relaxed collection of Bassike essentials like slouch jersey pants and asymmetrical cut t-shirts, has now moved into more defined tailored pieces than can go from day to night.
Now in their fourth year, Deborah and Mary Lou have taken Bassike to new heights, enriching the colour palette with bold prints for winter and playing with more defined detail and quality fabrics. Their latest collection is strikingly different from their earlier work, playing with new fabrics like wool, denim and leather. Whilst the Bassike aesthetic we have come to know still remains through their distinctive cuts, a fresh more high end approach has been taken to creating wool cashmere overcoats and blazer style jackets.
Rosemount Australian Fashion Week and the Future
Bassike are getting ready to make their fashion week debut at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week this year. Rumours have stated that the label will also be releasing a new S/S 2010 footwear collection at their show.
With their AW 2010 collection reaching new heights for the growing team, we are getting ready to see even bigger things at their first show for RAFW. With an accessible range of unisex basics and a focus on designing sustainable fashion through the use of organic fabrics, we can expect to see Bassike quickly become the must-have label for all of our wardrobe essentials. Bassike will be showing at RAFW on Monday 3rd May 2010.
Visit Bassike here: www.bassike.com
Quote source: Marie Claire Interview, April 2010
Image source: Bassike website
