Brooklyn-based James Clar has been using today’s lockdown climate to reconnect, when possible, with the natural world. ‘We have to stay safe, but also not forget the beauty that is out there,’ he explains. Natural phenomena is the basis of the light artist’s practice; his work uses the medium to explore our relationship with technology. ‘My art is about light and perception. A lot of my artwork takes natural phenomena and translates or recreates it through new technological production,’ adds Clar.
Now, for the first time the artist has teamed up with a fashion label, collaborating with Canada Goose as part of its innovation-focused Branta line, in an exploration of how light can be incorporated into clothing.
Canada Goose Branta S/S 2020
The result is a five-piece women’s, men’s and unisex outerwear collection in utilitarian tones and element-proof fabrics like water-resistant and windproof 100 per cent cotton Ventile, accentuated with reflective details. Clar developed a diamond symbol as a prism motif to ‘represents all the visible colours we can experience’. The brand’s signature double stripe detail is inspired by the distance between the troughs on the wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum of light.
The collection also focuses on the interplay between indoor and outdoor experience – particularly prescient today when both those worlds have diminished in size. During the day, the collection’s reflective details appear invisible, but when illuminated with artificial light, they glow. ‘This creates a duality between daytime sunlight and nighttime artificial light, which is enhanced through the fact that the garments are reversable,’ Clar adds.
Despite today’s uncertain world, Clar remains positive around the benefits of warmer seasons. ‘I’ve loved the multi-faceted aspect of this project, which has allowed thinking about our relationship to the sun and how that translates to garments. As the days grow longer, brighter and warmer, there’s an inherent positivity and possibility that arises in us that light plays a significant role in.
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