Style.com Review by Lauren Sherman
September 14, 2014
Threeasfour designers Gabi Asfour, Angela Donhauser, and Adi Gil have a busy few months ahead of them. They're showing their Fall 2014 film, which starred model Lily McMenamy, at Diane Pernet's A Shaded View on Fashion Film festival at the Centre Pompidou in Paris this November. They're also exhibiting pieces at the Brooklyn Museum's Killer Heels show, as well as at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C. In December, they'll be giving a talk at Ohio's Columbus College of Art and Design.
All these projects have led the designers to a new place, greatly inspired by the old. For Spring, the trio were determined to make truly wearable, almost everyday pieces that work well with their more conceptual creations. "We've been doing nonstop conceptual for a while now, and we wanted to show our approachable side," said Asfour.
First, they pulled men's and women's pieces from previous seasons that had been big hits with customers and updated the fit. (There were seven men's looks and 14 women's.) "We focused on easy, tailored pieces," said Asfour. There was lots of cotton, including a woman's dress pieced together with different types of white shirting, a seamed tunic, and a kimono vest. The line's signature curves rounded off hems and jacket closures. Leather platforms, harnesses, and dresses were laser-cut in a fractal pattern, which was meant to represent both tree branches and the human lung. "That's why we're calling the collection the Tree of Life," Gil said. But through it all, fit was at the front of the designers' minds. A unisex blazer, for instance, was designed with mesh inserts at the shoulder seams for ease of movement, and a cotton blouse was done with a jersey back for added comfort. Narrow cotton trousers for women were given stretch inserts, which went back to the easy tailoring Asfour mentioned.
Instead of a runway show, the team opted once again to do a film—another collaboration with 3-D animator Alex Czetwertynski. While a Threeasfour show has often served as a sort of performance piece in the past, it seems that Asfour, Donhauser, and Gil want to focus on projects that will allow them to reach as many people as possible, either through art or fashion or a mix of both. This season's collection should help that mission along.
