Oliver Ruuger’s visionary designs are the highly refined expression of the design process, and transcend the traditional notion of accessories, becoming artefacts akin to sculptures. Their elegance falls somewhere between haute luxury fashion item, and rarified objet d’art.
His collection presented as part of the 2011 London College of Fashion catwalk show was praised as “an inspirational perfectly executed accessories collection”, and he was awarded the Accessories Collection of the Year award which came in the form of €5,000 towards his next collection.
The work cultivates an intuitive and accidental design process in an attempt to avoid a more prosaic process of ‘inspiration’. Ruuger details his primary intent is to design and make products that exhibit an intrinsic power, ensuring that the artefacts capture and command equality between themselves and the viewer, without appearing purpose subservient as a product normally would. The ?nal result is a high fashion product with an emphasis on highly laborious craft techniques.
All of Ruuger’s pieces transform iconic and purpose orientated items – a saddle, an umbrella – into objects with an intrinsic power, a kind of powerful pour-soi en-soi which elevates the piece to sculptural entity. Pieces are all made to order, and Ruuger says his ideal client would be “an illustrious eccentric”.
Matching the intrigue and beauty of his pieces is the exceptional product photography by Michael Meewis, each shot alluding to a mysterious narrative, the powerful attraction of the objects matched by the impressive force captured in the energy of the shots.
Future Map 11 opens on January 12th at the Zabludowicz Collection and will showcase the best talent from 2011 University of the Arts degree shows, as selected by a guest panel of industry leaders. 30 creative talents for the future will form the exhibition, with one winning the Zabludowicz Future Map Prize.
