BOUDICCA part 2

Boudicca Part 2

Kirkby and Broach launched the label in 1998 with Leave (spring) and Bomb (fall.) Leave conjured images of exotic travels - such as an African safari or space flight - while Bomb portrayed a sort of post-apocalypse chic (or as Jason Amm might put it, "Prada Goth.") The collections introduced what would become Boudicca's trademark clean and sculptural (almost theatrical) quality, with crisply folded layers.



Fall 1999's System Error began the combination of historicism and futurism - as if the designers were imagining what "future clothes" would look like, thinking from the perspective of a previous point in history. The runway show for the fetish-inspired Plans for a Woman collection was smartly set against a white tiled wall and made use of oversized magnifying lenses.



Kirkby and Broach's highly conceptual collections are complimented by equally conceptual runway shows, sometimes more like performance art. Style.com said of What havoc in the garden of Beauty, "Zowie Broach and Brian Kirkby carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. Their Boudicca presentations are symbolic, troubling experiences, drawn from sources so deep inside their heads there ought to be a handbook with footnotes. But then again, who needs explanations?"

The designers provide their audience with plenty of clues via their website. In addition to the basics, there are sections with titles such as Library, Cinema and Declaration where Kirkby and Broach share their inspiration, philosophies and explorations into other media.