Ariel Garten's done it again, just in time to dazzle at this year's best-yet Toronto Fashion Week.
Garten's unique vision of fashion, with its curved, flowing lines and evocative use of materials - from city concrete to animal bones - graces the opening night catwalk as only she can envision a catwalk.
Ariel Garten's 2005/06 line, Kinetics, explores the relationship between structure and motion, transformation and stasis.
"Kinetics plays with structures and motion," Ariel says. "From real animal bones that serve to hold up the garment to billowy chiffons counter-pointed with weighted patches that swing when the wearer moves, Kinetics will move you."
Ariel Garten, the darling of fashion's avant garde, whose fall 2004 show was delivered on a conveyor belt catwalk, mounts her new collection on swinging fabric loops that themselves comprise the runway.
Kinetics looks at gravity from the bottom up and inside out. "Gravity doesn't only keep things down, but keeps them up," she says. "For centuries we have referred to the fixtures that keep our garments structurally sound as 'bones,' and we hide them inside the garments. Here, boning takes on an entirely new role."
Ariel Garten has garnered the adoration of press and fashion elite throughout the process of graduating with a prestigious neuroscience degree, opening her private label boutique, distributing across north America, and now moving into Japan.
Like all her artistic explorations, Garten’s moving runway sees her making creative history once again with a conceptually integrated exploration of the frontiers of contemporary fashion.
Just in time for her runway debut, Ariel shared some thoughts and ideas exclusively with Toronto Fashion Monitor.
What was the first item of clothing you created?
When I was 5 I used to make dolls clothing out of the feet and heels of old stockings. Then I moved on to making shoes for myself out of Smarties boxes.
What is your signature design? Do you like specific colors, shapes, or a fabric?
My signature design is the circle skirt. I'm extremely fond of the circle. I have become more comfortable with squares and still am entirely biased against the triangle. I can't stand it. When I do circle items, they are bold and colorful. Oddly enough, when I started working with the square and the box, my collections turned as grey as our cities.
How would you describe a person who is wearing your designs?
Independent, which is a kind of funny thing for me to say about someone who is wearing MY designs, nor their own independence...
Do you wear many of your own designs? If so, what are your favorite pieces?
I'm usually so busy giving my designs to other stores or stalking them for my own that its hard to find a spare piece to wear... but I've been known to be seen for days on end wearing my plastic eggshell skirt, or living in one of my gaudet tops...
Is designing difficult for you? If it is, what drives you to go ahead?
Sometimes it is as easy as breathing and as heard as living.
Where do you go for inspiration?
Anywhere. Everything inspires me. Picking up a pen or opening my eyes or closing them.
Who are your favorite designers?
Andre Courreges, Martin Margiela, Issey Miyake.
What project are you currently working on?
A brainwave inspired art piece.
What do you wish you had designed?
The Le Courbousier lounge chair.
Who has been a greatest influence on your career?
As ridiculous as it sounds, I owe a lot to my amazing mother.
What is your definition of beauty?
Anything that provokes aesthetic emotion in the classic philosophy of aesthetic sense.
Julie Gabriel
Ariel Garten 
