Photography: Arfan Naeem. Models: Cristina Morales & Sébastien Bornil. London, 2015.
Funktopia is the 4th collection in Totem Taboo’s journey and one of the most meaningful for me. My first connection with African/diaspora culture was through music and it was necessary to honour one of my lifetime biggest loves and influences when it comes to my identity.
Funktopia Making Of. Photography: Arfan Naeem. Model: Lina Piño. London, 2015.
Funktopia Making Of. Photography: Arfan Naeem. Model: Lina Piño. London 2015.
Funktopia Making Of. Photography: Arfan Naeem. Model: Lina Piño. London, 2015.
My main inspiration was ‘Honey’ by Erykah Badu, as a cultural retrospective.
I thought about how I would like to dress some of my dearest music references in a way where their music and my fashion could embrace each personality in the way they both aim to: in a spaceless and timeless manner.
Funktopia was born that way with a collection of mind-dressing kufi hats.
A kufi hat is a brimless, short, and rounded cap worn by men and women in many populations in North Africa, East Africa, Western Africa , Canada, and Asia. It is worn by Christians, Muslims, and African Jews although they are originally Islamic. Each person, region and religion gives their hat different meanings but there is something they all share: the kufi is a sign of peace, pride, renewal and protection of the mind.
Dressing the head, our ideas tank, is indeed, powerful.
Funktopia limited edition hats are as usual one-of-a-kind pieces made with African , South-American, and Asian textiles in two sizes, big (adults) and small (kids or women headdresses), and they are conceived to wear as an extension of our mind which meaning can only be found by every particular individual according to their lived experience.
Concerning the art direction I decided on one hand to recreate my contemporary vision of mostly 70’s Black music classic record covers, as one of the most productive and inspiring decades musically for future generations. And on the other hand create an scenography for a dreamt funky society.
Enjoy some extra visual records of this collection born between Barcelona and London and find the last totems available here.
Design, Art direction: Cristina Morales. Photography: Manel Ibarro. Model: Isabel Mabrok. Barcelona, 2014.
Design, Art direction: Cristina Morales. Photography: Manel Ibarro. Model: Isabel Mabrok. Barcelona, 2014.
Design, Art direction: Cristina Morales. Photography: Manel Ibarro. Model: Leon Jackson. Barcelona, 2014.
Design, Art direction: Cristina Morales. Photography: Manel Ibarro. Model: Isabel Mabrok. Barcelona, 2014.
Design, Art direction: Cristina Morales. Photography: Manel Ibarro. Model: Leon Jackson. Barcelona, 2014.
Design, Make-up, Art direction: Cristina Morales. Photography: Arfan Naeem. Model: Lina Piño. London, 2015.
Design, Art direction: Cristina Morales. Photography: Arfan Naeem. Model: Sébastien Bornil. London, 2015.
Design, Art direction: Cristina Morales. Photography: Arfan Naeem. Models: Lina Piño & Sébastien Bornil. London, 2015.
Design, Stylism, Art direction: Cristina Morales. Photography: Arfan Naeem. Model: Lina Piño. London, 2015.
