“It’s always very important that whatever you’re working on feels modern, even if you’re working with an archaic technique,” remarks New York-based knitwear designer Graham Tabor. “Like macramé, for instance, which has been around for thousands of years. The challenge is how you’re able to take that technique and reinterpret it to make it exciting and new– and something that’s appropriate for now.”
There is a quality of organized chaos to Graham Tabor’s sophisticated designs. With his layers of deconstructed translucent fabrics, perforated wool knits, torn stitching and fantastically distorted facial masks made in collaboration with Kristen Barron, Tabor’s overall vision is an archetype of the primitive merging with the futuristic.
The designer has been developing his innovative tailoring techniques for the past ten years, and is currently making a name for himself as a forerunner in a skill that has remained largely untouched by American designers. “Knits are a very marketable commodity in New York,” says Tabor. “There aren’t a lot of people here who’re both technically skilled and have a good eye, and there’s very little production in the U.S.”
Born and bred outside of Detroit, Tabor later studied at Johns Hopkins and took several patternmaking classes at FIT before attending the Sorbonne in Paris for courses in photography. It was then that Tabor began to make an organic transition into the world of fashion design. “It actually happened almost by accident– I had all of these different interests, but I wasn’t necessarily really looking for a job in fashion. I was mostly trying to justify a reason for staying in Paris,” laughs Tabor. Clearly cut for the cloth, Tabor snagged an internship with Sébastien Menier, who is now the head of menswear at Maison Martin Margiela. The internship led to a knitwear design job under Melanie Ward at Karl Lagerfeld. “Lagerfeld was one of the best working experiences I’ve ever had,” comments Tabor. “It was a bit of a dream because it was so design lead. The team was very strong, and the product that we were doing was really amazing.”
Following his position at Lagerfeld, Tabor spent two years as the head of knitwear at Helmut Lang. Prada had just sold the company to Link Theory Holdings of Japan, and Tabor describes the challenging experience as “a bit mental.” But it was a challenge that prepared the designer for the launch of his own label. In 2008 Tabor was invited to show his debut eponymous collection in Paris at the annual Hyeres Festival of Fashion and Photography– the same event that has set the careers of Viktor and Rolf and photographer Sølve Sundsbø into motion. In addition to creating his own label, Tabor has consulted for TSE Cashmere, Rachel Roy and Camilla Staerk, and also styles photo shoots regularly for the likes of Qvest, Metal and Wad, among others.
Inspired by his natural surroundings as well as avant-garde Japanese designers Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, Tabor cautions, “You always have to be careful to not be too directly inspired by someone, because then what is your voice?” With his body transforming creations and curiosity for the cutting-edge, Tabor’s voice is an escape to a brave new world of adventurous fashion: a black and white world of structural illusion and sexual ambiguity; and a world where apocalyptic drifters search for new life.
“I’m interested in the idea of how knowledge is transferred by certain groups in certain situations, and from one civilization to the next,” comments Tabor. “The knowledge that we have of the past is very fragmentary, and it’s through these bits and pieces that we try to bring together a story– and that’s what I find so interesting. Whenever I make a collection, I’m putting forth my own universe. And what I was trying to do was to put forth fragments of this universe, so the spectator can excavate and fill in the gaps with their own ideas and theories in order to make it their own.”
Also influenced by the work of American artist Gordon Matta-Clarke, Tabor's eyes light up when discussing the man’s unconventional processes. “One of the things he’s most known for are his excavations of abandoned buildings,” Tabor says. “He would cut out apertures in the ceiling and walls to allow light to come in. By removing these pieces and revealing many different dimensions at once, he was able to completely transform how your brain experienced the space.”
Adapting and expanding upon Matta-Clarke’s architectural techniques, Tabor uses his intricate stitch work, cut-outs, and various sheer fabrics to manipulate one’s perception of his own line of garments. “Part of the whole understanding for the collection was the idea of opening up this transparency,” he says. “Not necessarily actually revealing the body or the garment, but transforming it. These transparencies alter the texture of the skin and add to and change the dimension of the body, so it’s as if the transparency has been negated.” In shades of ivory and black, Tabor’s paper-thin trousers, seamless translucent jackets, and gash-filled knits play with the silhouette of each wearer. The garments drape and unravel around the body, forming a complex sort of camouflage for the new millennium.
What’s up next for this talented young designer? In a joint effort with photographer Miguel Villalobos (a regular contributor to Jalouse, Fantastic Man, Metal and more), Tabor’s latest project, titled 1 – 100, is a seasonless collection of uniquely handcrafted one-off cuffs, bracelets and headpieces. Each unisex collection of accessories will focus on a different material and artesian technique, the first being leather molded and dyed by hand. Sold in numbered editions of 100 pieces, 1 – 100 is currently available in Japan— though Tabor and Villalobos plan to enter the European market very soon.
While his conceptual fashions are currently available through private order only, Tabor has been working with Woolmark and Australian Wool Innovation to develop some more commercial pieces to add to his line. “Creating unconventional clothing can be a bit self-limiting because it can be too extreme for consumers,” says Tabor, “But I still want to make something that people are excited about.”
Written by Carolyn Brennan
Photos courtesy of Migue Villalobos, www.miguelvillalobos.net
