Based: Auckland
Show: New Generation Show and Miromoda
DMONIC INTENT is a family based fashion label with talent also in the design and manufacture of fine jewellery, accessories and millinery.
Founded in 2008, DMONIC INTENT has grown to reflect not only our design aesthetic but our interest in high fashion.
Development, experimentation and innovation in design is paramount to our design philosophy. As designers we aim for quality and individualism with a focus on being NZ designed and made.
‘EIGHT’ featured in the New Generation Show
EIGHT is a collection inspired by the traditional Maori Poutama pattern and the number eight.
Poutama or ʻThe Stairway To Heavenʼ symbolizes the growth of man and his journey towards self improvement and betterment.
When mirrored, with the steps both ascending and descending, it represents the rise and fall of man, Heaven and Hell and also the past and the future.
The number 8, being a symbol for infinity, is representative of not only the limitless abilities of man but the fact that nothing is final, not even death.
In EIGHT we juxtapose light and dark, hard and soft and short and long to reflect the concept of Heaven and Hell, weakness and strength, failure and success.
HEAVEN BLEEDS BLACK’ featured in the Miromoda Showcase
Heaven Bleeds Black was also initially inspired by the traditional Maori Poutama pattern. The word Poutama can also be interpreted as one who protects and supports and is believed to be the ultimate mark of a leader.
Because of our own journey towards success in fashion design and the goal of becoming leaders in our field, ʻHeaven Bleeds Blackʼ is our metaphor for the fashion industry today.
Through the use of leather, sharp angles and unique design we have attempted to portray our concept of ʻHeavenʼ as the designer and their fashion empire. The authority figures in the hierarchical system who set the trends and dictate the seasons ahead.
The term ʻBleeds Blackʼ represents the effects high fashion has on the global market, mass production, mass consumerism and the destruction that is caused by the trickling of greed down through the ranks.It was once common for ʻdesigner wearʼ to be handmade by men and women proficient at their craft. At present, a percentage of garments, low and high end, are mass produced offshore at prices that do not reflect their worth.
Mass production, not only undermines the workmanship and personality evident in handmade quality goods but encourages and condones slave labour and poverty. To compete in the fast paced world of fashion, manufacturers, often in over-populated countries where jobs are scarce, are able to produce garments at ridiculously low prices. These designs are then sold by the designer with huge profit margins in comparison to the cost price per unit.
ʻHellʼ in other words as a lot of the people employed by these manufacturing companies often have no other option than to work for next to nothing, in countries that are already rife with poverty. The idea of mass production, cheap labour and under-paid workers is represented by the use of transparent fabrics, simplicity in design and the vivid symbolism of the Poutama pattern.
What we support and hope to encourage is a move towards more handmade, locally produced, quality goods at a fair price. Feeding money and employment back into our own economy while taking inspiration from the past, manipulating the traditional techniques of our ancestors and bringing them into a contemporary context – the future.