Newly-launched label, A_Plan_Application, founded by Berlin-born artist Anna Blessmann, and manufactured by Milan-based New Guards Group, offers a concise array of beautifully constructed garments expressing the utilitarian power aesthetic of uniforms interpreted with minimalistic, feminine elegance.
In a departure from solid-colour garments of the first two seasons, the Autumn/Winter 2019-20 collection introduces digital prints of pixels, an idea explored in a silk scarf design called Glitch, designed in collaboration with Peter Saville. Printed on dresses and down jackets and coats, pixels flow and blend in multicolour shades, simple black and white, and even a take on digitalized camouflage, creating a chic reference to the militaristic motif. A part of the collection plays on the sensuality of fetish in colourful green vinyl coats, accessories and pants, showing off the sexier side of A_Plan_Application.
Anna Blessmann does not believe in following seasonal trends, but instead creates a wardrobe adapted to a range of everyday life’s demands. “In luxury today, fashion garments are so distinctive” says the German artist, “you can immediately tell what label someone is wearing.” Blessmann, having worked as both an artist and a fashion designer for cult fashion label Carpe Diem, was convinced to start her own line following a conversation between herself, her partner (in life and art) Peter Saville, and OFF-WHITE founder Virgil Abloh, who is ironically known for his expertise in branding and setting trends.
Blessmann, instead, wanted to offer versatile pieces that build a woman’s everyday wardrobe season upon season, allowing the wearer to interpret, personalise, and adapt each look to her own needs and taste. Her signature jumpsuit is inspired by a window-washer’s uniform, offered seasonally in “more relaxed and sensual” fabrics for spring and sturdier and more structured ones in fall. Slinky throw-on-and-go T-shirt dresses in satin-like viscose provide ease and comfort while in lieu of a tracksuit, she proposes a refined take on the judo uniform with a more fitted jacket and elongated pant legs.
“It’s just functioning clothes for people who are aesthetically aware,” Blessmann explains. “If I think about bigger issues, I probably would create a sculpture or an art piece, not clothing. Of course, it’s also about the issues of today, but there’s only so much I want to communicate on my body.”
Anna prefers that her customers are noticed first for who they are, then for what they are wearing. Taking a philosophical approach, she believes that life today is dominated by a new type of noise, one not defined by volume but by distortion. Navigating this landscape of disruptive information can be a cinematic experience, but it is only by embedding ourselves within the noise in a positive way that we can control our image. The wearer decides what is real and revealed, or what is constructed and concealed. Under these conditions, clothing becomes a profound expression of self-determination, “creating a supporting context for expression, joy and whim. The wardrobe for our era of random noise is liberating,” Anna explains on A_Plan_Application’s website.
“Formal restraint does not mean limiting the power of the individual. It means foregrounding personality, creativity and intellect.” The designer’s philosophy and aesthetic speaks to this idea of empowering the individual, through traditional workwear codes. A wardrobe for life is a conscious decision to make fewer decisions. It is the certainty that comes from knowing yourself, and trusting your taste.
Later,
Giorgia.
