‘Title of Work’ by Jonathan Meizler FW12: Accessories and the Abject.

Jonathan Meizler was bored by ties. I mean, weren’t we all before this? With a background in independent film production, Meizler moved from camera lenses and shooting locations to couture womenswear – a dramatic gear shift by anyone’s standards – to finally end up in men’s accessories, working to dismantle the banal connotations of the necktie. 

And so, ‘Title of Work’ was born. Now based in NYC, Meizler brings his wealth of experience in couture detailing to the men’s market, hand-crafting an extensive collection that includes not only neckties, but bowties, cufflinks and tiepins, too.

For Fall Winter 2012, the designer looks to risqué Miami Beach artist Enrique Gomez de Molina and his body of uncanny taxidermy hybrids. A visceral mesh of the abject and the beautiful, De Molina’s transgressive sculptures boldly go where no artist has gone before (and won’t go again without a good deal of difficulty, according to this report on De Molina’s imprisonment).

^ Sculptures by celebrated and officially condemned artist Enrique Gomez de Molina

Meizler certainly nods to the sculptor, but crafts a collection that channels the strangeness, that stresses the liminal nature of the imaginary border between something ugly and a thing of outstanding beauty.

Queue ties adorned with sterling silver ants, claws, fox heads, racoon teeth and Amazonian black cock feathers that transform a conventional well-crafted tie made from quality fabric to something altogether more singular. If sporting creepy-crawlies removed from the sanctioned context of Hallowe’en isn’t really your thing, then there’s plenty more to catch your eye including a range of more traditional but indisputably luxurious neckties as well as a selection of styles subtly embellished with leather bands and japanese mesh.

____________________

Learn more about ‘Title of Work’ by Jonathan Meizler | Shop ‘Title of Work’ | Learn more about Enrique Gomez de Molina and his art | And look here for an unnerving Hallowe’en surprise