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A literature student left the Italian shores with dreams of fashion design and became the hottest thing on the London scene (with quite a bit of studying and hard work in between): not a fairytale but Maria Francesca's Pepe journey into becoming a fashion sensation with fierce jewellery and clothing to match.

"I started my own label MariaFrancescaPepe, showing my jewellery-wear in London, Milan and Paris. I sold to Dover Street Market, Henri Bendel and Space Mue amongst others." This is how Maria Francesca, a London-based Italian designer with more than a little British edge to her aesthetics, describes her stellar debut.

Into the woods of F/W 10.

Stellar indeed, what with press acclaim for her graduation show at Central St Martins, a wide range of inudstry fans amongst which Alice Dellal, Agyness Deyn and the DSM buyer... Oh and she happened to invent her own design concept of jewellery-wear: a new way to look at clothing and accessories outside the usual fashion box. In Maria Francesca Pepe's view there is continuity and a certain level of coherence between the two; clothes like jewels are ornamental and jewels like clothes should de designed with wearability in mind. She also disparages the myth that jewellery and clothing design mean different sets of skills.“It's not like I began making jewelry and then decided I could do clothes. I just felt like jewelry was a good way to establish my brand."

Bold pieces: trademark aesthetics of the MFP jewellery.

As one would expect from a designer with such fresh takes on fashion, there is much more to Maria Francesca's shows than a bunch a models walking in line; her presentations are a coming-together of artistic visions and strong visual statements which instantly give a feeling of the MFP universe. Not the faraway land of fairytales for the MFP woman is no damsel in distress and very much is a creature of her times; but a whimsically dark parallel universe, a slightly bolder, slightly more out-there and much more original version of our own, inhabited by black-clad bathing beauties and symbolism.

After shining in the Central St Martins spotlight and working alongside designers such as Roksanda Ilincic and Ameanda Wakeley (for whom she designed a jewellery range), Maria Francesca's designs made a first appearance on the London Fashion Week schedule for the Autumn Winter 09 season (see video above).

A look from the S/S10 collection.

 

Then came the bathing beauties of the summer - a whole new take on the 1940s classic with much sharper outfits (no offense Esther) and fin like jewels.

 

The last round of London Fashion Week meant yet another public acclaim for media darling Maria Francesca. Dazed is one of those enthusiastic admirers; of her latest presentation they wrote: " MFP created a beautiful but scary vision where opposites meet. Dark and light [...]. Hard and soft [...]. [... ](Highlighting) the evolution from human to animal, “baring the soul of its wearer”.

This is when MFP goes from the beautiful to the metaphysical - not a mere series of visually stunning garments but a full-on exploration of the nature of (wo)man, and the animal that ies within: "I believe it's the combination of the two. And the awareness that we can be one or the other through times." Now that was all the excuse we needed to unleash our wilder selves - expect a winter of howling she-wolves!

 

Source and credits: Maria Francesca Pepe

TAGS: maria francesca pepe fashion designer london fashion week jewellery