Boyfriend, skinny, straight, wide-leg, flared … aviator? Brisbane designer Cyan Reign has added a new style to the denim stable.
The 28-year-old TAFE student took out the top prize at the 2007 Do it with Denim national fashion design competition. Part of the Jeans for Genes Day campaign, the competition compelled budding designers to get creative with denim. This year's theme was ''daredevil'' and with her ''Aviator'' jeans, Cyan reigned supreme. Cosmo chatted to the denim diva about her win.
Cosmo: How did you create your ''Aviator'' jeans?
Cyan: Given that the theme was ''daredevil'', I began thinking about people who were daring. The best example I could think of was Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
So I began to create jeans modelled on the shapes and style of an aeroplane. Each panel of the jeans is based on a part of the plane; the wings and the flaps, in particular.
Cosmo: Are the jeans wearable?
Cyan: Yes; although I wouldn't wear them everyday! I wear the Aviator jacket regularly, though.
Cosmo: You design corsets, too; where did you get the inspiration for them?
Cyan: I was always interested in corsets. I started making them about six years ago, because I love their shape. They're so structured, but at the same time, they're really feminine.
A lot of people talk about corsets as tools of oppression; but nowadays, I think that wearing them can be really empowering. Women are acknowledging the glamour and sexiness they evoke, possibly due to the resurgence of burlesque and the popularity of Dita von Teese.
Also, anyone - no matter their shape - can wear a corset. That's a very attractive thing.
Cosmo: Zac Posen designed a white denim dress for Katherine Heigl for the 2007 Emmys, spelling new life for denim. Do you think designers will start to use the fabric differently now?
Cyan: I don't know if that will necessarily happen, but there's certainly a place for denim in high fashion. It's not just a casual fabric for jeans and jackets ; it's actually very versatile.
Cosmo: You're a Brisbane girl; is there a quintessential Brisbane style?
Cyan: Not really; but Brisbane style is really progressing. We're catching up with the rest of Australia, I think! People are becoming more experimental and eclectic.