'Paste Ups to Runways' / Love Manifesto

Crafted in Naarm/Melbourne, Love Manifesto tailors non-binary art-based recycled clothing. Every garment is one-of-a-kind and sold at its highest offer. Read below to find some information on Dylan Negrine’s wonderful brand and their unique creative process that spans from street paste ups to liberty in unconventional forms.

“Love Manifesto began through doing graffiti and paste ups. Being responsible for art on the street was a form of liberty to me, a subtle protest to the conservative community. I started combining my love for fashion with what I was doing on the streets, and started bombing my garments in prints depicting sharp hazardous symbolism. What you wear and how you present yourself is a direct representation of your beliefs and attitudes. For me, it’s a form of communication and largely a protest. 

I had no real equipment at first and was working on garments from my backyard. I was shocked that people were interested in my personal collection. I guess thats when I decided to start taking it seriously. 

I like to reflect freedom from convention to liberate and dissolve social structures that limits individual freedom. My garments are intended for queer or liberated communities, and use semiotics to express a kind of tribal affiliation between us. I’d feel really uncomfortable if a fascist of some sort was to support my work as it would be a complete contradiction of its intended purpose. 

As I attended an all-boys catholic school a lot of my work comes from my disdain of conservative beliefs. It’s nothing but a destructive system of inequality and prejudice. I found that I could separate myself from the beliefs of certain communities through what I was wearing, especially garments that were more feminine such as skirts or dresses. I think it’s extremely important to challenge heteronormative traditions. 

To be honest, I feel like I haven’t even started making works I truly connect with and I believe this is just a part of the process of developing and finding meaning as an artist. I can’t directly tell you what is next other than wanting to create more work and greater concepts. 

My process first starts with an initial concept or motive that I spend up to a month constantly drawing on and refining. From there I move the designs onto screens. 

For me the most important part of the creative process is having the ability to lose yourself in the moment and to make decisions completely reliant on your intuition. This also involves being the instrument who channels this creative energy. I believe the artist is not responsible for the outcome of any of their works but merely the vehicle it is expressed through. Love Manifesto uses locally recycled garments, and these garments are further altered and then decorated in the studio. 

I enjoy either presenting work in an exhibition setting where I can explain the concepts and motives behind them, or in the streets where they can speak for themselves, I don’t really mind.”  

For purchase and more information:

www.lovemanifesto.com.au

Make up/Styling and runway in collaboration with SPAG (Instagram Handle: @goobspag) , runway photos by @digitalloveindustry