What does a suburb north of Chicago and San Diego have in common? Each locations are origins of two rising talents in textile and fashion design here in San Francisco. Eleonore Santos, garment designer and textile designer and Anna Metzel are both graduating from the Academy of Art University this spring and recently participated in their graduate fashion show where they exhibited their work, not separately but very much together in a singular and remarkable collaboration.
Anna Metzel, who spent her childhood education buried in art classrooms in her hometown suburb of Chicago, was approached to collaborate with Santos and provide textiles for her Senior collection garment construction. The two were introduced in Fall of 2014 and reviewed tattered sketchbooks and various sources of inspiration in order to conceptualize their initial ideas and the aesthetic direction they hoped to take the collection before going their separate ways to dream up their own two parts of one collective work. Metzel says of the process, “A challenge I faced was to take the inspiration I had already received from Eleonore to an entirely new level.” Creating the bold, abstracted textiles themselves was an arduous process and labor of love according to Metzel. “I created the final textile images by recreating the essence/figures in selected Francis Bacon works, and burning these figures into receipt paper which is heat sensitive. I used an iron to create the line work in the paper and I also use a lighter to create dramatic smoke shapes. Although the original artwork for each look is only about 3” 5” when blown up on a large scale and positioned in an intriguing way it resonates quite nicely.” Santos says of Anna’s contribution, “I feel so fortunate to have been paired up with Anna because she not only understood and appreciated my vision, she brought her own eye and artistic sensitivity to the table. She brought my collection to life, and for that I have nothing but respect for her as a textile designer.”
San Diego-raised designer, Eleonore Santos says of Anna’s contribution, “I feel so fortunate to have been paired up with Anna because she not only understood and appreciated my vision, she brought her own eye and artistic sensitivity to the table. She brought my collection to life, and for that I have nothing but respect for her as a textile designer.” Santos’ successful Senior Collection of garment construction and designs for Anna’s textiles is attributed by Santos to her inspiration by painter, Francis Bacon. “I wanted each look to be dynamic and alive like the Bacon paintings that I’ve seen.” Says Santos. Her process began with collaging Bacon’s paintings on mannequins in order to find her initial silhouettes, outlined draping and highly detailed construction. Santos explains, “I pushed myself to make this collection as technically demanding as possible. There are so many elements that you don’t see unless you are up close because of the way I matched the prints, I wanted each print to blend together and appear seamless and wanted to create coats that didn’t quite look like coats, a dress that didn’t quite look like a dress.” Admittedly, the striking construction of Santos’ work could not exist without her textile designer, Anna Metzel.
Following her graduation, Santos will relocate to New York where she’ll intern for the prominent designer, Yigal Azrouël. Metzel plans to continue seeking challenging freelance opportunities and eventually sees herself creating textiles for her own line of lingerie. It’s obvious what these two talents create together is extraordinary and we can’t wait to see what successes they embark on solitarily.
Text by Jennifer Richardson
Photography by Rob Curry
