I ‘discovered’ Sheana Hindesley’s Malicious Designs website about a year ago, just after I’d got back from a lingerie trade show (and had been singularly unimpressed by what was on offer). Hindesley’s designs were a bit of a shock to the system – but in a good way. The lingerie might have had a raw, unfinished, and – to be honest – a pretty cheap look about it, but in a kind of intentional, ironic way, I like to think. Anyway, I liked them. The images here are from her 2006 Fall collection. Some of it has a touch of the 1970’s cheap-hooker look about it (not that I’ve ever knowingly met a 1970’s hooker, but I have watched some Starsky & Hutch re-runs, so I know what I’m talking about here), and there’s also a touch of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane going on in the collection. With, possibly, a slight hint of the Daisy Duke and a smidgen of Lolita, if I’m not mistaken. Which I probably am. It’s after 5am now and I’m losing the plot due to sleep deprivation. What day is it anyway? We are still in February, are we not?
The Farm Girl set on the left is one of Hindesley’s more sensible creations. Quite cute, I think. Hindesley also designs clothing and that’s a picture of her Chicken Dress on the right. It has the look of a country girl gone bad and I like it, though I’d be reluctant to walk about wearing a dress covered in a chicken pattern. It would be bound to bring forth some smart-ass comments, and life’s hard enough without having to put up with chicken remarks.
So, earlier this year I had another look at the Malicious Designs website and the original designs are still there, only this time they’ve been joined by some wickedly good new designs. There’s also a gallery of impressively-styled photographs of her collection. Hindesley has stepped things up by several dozen notches. I’m not sure what these new designs are called but they sure look good – not least because the designer (or the stylist) has got it so right in terms of presentation. I love the way the photoshoot has been staged and the heavily made-up, indolent/insolent-looking models are just perfect for the Malicious Designs style of lingerie, though I do think the one on the far left has a bit of a transvestite look going on (whoa there! — I’m not saying it like it was a bad thing). The quality and finish of the items looks to have improved too, without losing much of its appealing edginess.
I had intended to write about another lingerie brand that I’m quite keen on but I think I’ll leave it to another day and try and get some sleep. Someone’s bound to wake me up in a few hours time and expect me to be all bright-eyed. The very nerve of it.
