A brand driven by individuality and making their childhood dreams of designing and expanding on a global scale come to life, DAGDA stand alone in the crowd .. but in a good way. The quirky, contouring, experimental and forever creative brand love to create artistic one off garments that exude a sense of narrative. Of course, these connotations enable the consumer to create their own personal interpretation of the deeper meaning behind the garment. Let’s see what they have to say about it all.
It is apparent that you love eccentricity, bold colours and contouring other fabric manipulations- what inspired you to create these daring garments?
Restraining ourselves has never even come near our minds, it is really important to give an impact and to just go for it! And in a certain way, fashion is such a useless frivolous thing, so why not use it to add a bit of a spark in this background of boredom and conformity. The quirky and unconventional side of beauty is very much appreciated by us, it is the peculiarity of something that makes it attractive and unique, and this can be achieved in so many ways without ending up looking ridiculous. This explains our colour choices, fabric combinations and experimentation with different kinds of materials. Starting from the fact that we are obviously guided by our precise aesthetic vision (which also comes from our general life ethics and values); our inspiration always contains an idea of beauty, protest and rebellion, that can be slightly read through the lines, popping out from the current wave of our inner mood. There are so many different inputs in life that we feel the need to pay attention to, capture and translate in a breaking and innovative way.
As a new designer brand, do you have any goals for the up and coming future?
Of course we do! The goal we’re aiming at for the moment would be showcasing at LFW. Consequently receiving acknowledgement around the continents with new stockists, and definitely trying to overcome ourselves collection after collection.
Where would you place yourself within the fashion industry? Are there any designers you would compare yourself with?
We don’t think that categorising is something that a designer should necessarily do, if you consider your work as an expression of yourself, it’s hard to place it in a category other than “this my shit”! Even comparing yourself to other designers is a pointless thing to do, of course there are loads of designers that we look up to (emerging and established) but they have their, and we have ours.
Is there a specific focus/hidden narrative within your latest collection or is it just an artistic expression?
As much as we love artistic expression, it’s simply not enough to give a collection the right strength, without a detailed research and a specific narrative, you kind of loose the kick! If you work with concept you can achieve a much more powerful and coherent result!
Have you always wanted to be designers or did you have different childhood dream jobs?
We had many dreams when we were kids, and being a designer was one of them. Wasting all our math classes scribbling tacky dresses all over our textbooks, or, as it was the 90’s, spending the afternoon drawing the Spice Girls in all different kinds of trashy outfits! Wish we could do that for a living now!!
Are there ever any clashes of opinion between the three of you- how do you work together to create the designs?
Well, working in a team obviously leads to different opinions at some point, but diverse ideas and point of views often help to build rather than tear down something. Each one of us engages with the project from the initial brainstorming to the final touches. We give ourselves directives, deciding which are the boxes that need to be ticked, and we assemble each one’s personal interpretation of a point, to give life to one articulated concept.
Who is the target market for DAGDA and why should people buy into your brand?
Without a doubt, folks who appreciate expressing themselves in different ways, who want to own something unique, and are not afraid to draw attention to themselves!
Is it a big process to hand make each garment because of the layering and textural focus?
The whole design process is a very complex one. Hand crafting is just a small part of our work. We consider it an intimate tribute to whoever decides to wear one of our designs, as there are things that are not achievable through mechanical methods; we feel it’s a way to tell a story in a detailed and accurate way.
Name three celebrities you would love to see wearing your brand?
Guess we would definitely have to go with Alison Goldfrapp, Gwen Stefani and Christina Ricci.
There is a very big androgynous underlying theme within your S/S menswear collection. Was this an intentional gender blend?
Wouldn’t call it intentional actually. Every collection reflects an aesthetic taste and every project tells its own story. For this season we wanted to portray an idea of unconscious beauty, like the characters you find in Toyin Ibidapo’s photographs, an emotional masculine discomfort and violent self discovery, but with a pinch of romantic poetry. Where the androgynous is mainly given by the appearance of the character; with his hair kept long in the intent of maintaining his youth on his head, the clothes follow masculine cuts and shapes instead, the colours express the contrasting emotions of his feelings, sometimes royal, sometimes unripe.