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A fashion collection inspired by another artistic realm is nothing new: from Elsa Schiaparelli’s collaboration with Salvador Dali, to Anna Sui’s invocation of the Art Nouveau movement – the world of fashion has long subsumed slithers and snatches of artistic greatness, past and present.

A fashion collection inspired by another culture is, also, far from innovative.
But, a fashion collection inspired by both another culture and multiple other artistic realms is not only something of a rarity, but also something of a risk.
Reality Studio’s S/S 14 collection, Tiger Calm, however, proves it can be done – and then some.


Reality Studio is a Berlin-based label helmed by German designer, Svenja Specht; Specht spent a number of years working in Paris and Beijing – as well as Berlin – before establishing Reality Studio in 2005.


 It is this – Specht’s experience and appreciation of other lands and the corresponding cultures – that imbues each of Reality Studio’s collections with a refined charm and patent androgynous elegance, open to evolution, interpretation and adaptation; just like the world around us, and our notion of reality.


 Tiger Calm – the name – is meant to symbolise the tranquil pockets of time life offers, as well as the big-cat strength and courage it requires. And, Tiger Calm – the collection – brings together themes prevalent in the works of the late Japanese photographer, Shoji Ueda (minimalist, sparse backdrops, adorned with strikingly bold subject matter in the foreground – the ultimate amalgamation of surrealism and realism), and Paul Schrader’s 1985 film – based on the life and work of Japanese writer, Yukio Mishima – Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (vivid colour palettes and hyper-stylised motifs); so, what’s the result? 


Comfortable, casual attire, reinforced with an air of contemporary sophistication; comfortable, casual attire, reinforced with saccharine pastel shades; comfortable, casual attire, reinforced with sumptuous hand-painted and collage prints of bamboo, seascapes and mountains (courtesy of a collaboration between the label and French textile artists, Milleneufcentquatre-vingtquatre); comfortable, casual attire, reinforced by Japanese culture, photographic and cinematographic elements and a canny understanding of our world; comfortable, casual attire, made to last, to be loved and to represent “the here and now.”

Tara Okeke
Click here to view the full collection.