At the beginning of last year, a new designer appeared on Instagram under the nickname @ebonytylah. With no website and no bio, simply reading "dreams of the past", the mystery account's feed consisted of artfully shot unisex jeans available for purchase via DM, printed with some of the most valuable documents and works of art in history: illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages; etchings of a medieval mappa mundi; reproductions of maximalist scenes of violence and passion painted by some of the greatest Renaissance and Baroque artists. The color intrigued us.
After reporting on this faceless brand, it turned out that it is the brainchild of two designers, Antonia Boss and Tim Hartmann. Although the couple studied in Vienna (at the Herbstrasse School of Fashion and the University of Applied Arts, respectively) and graduated in 2019, their first meeting took place two years earlier in a more unexpected place - their shared hometown of Bregenz, near the Swiss border. , where they both worked at the Lakeside Opera Festival. With a shared passion for Old Master paintings, antique treasures housed at the legendary Kunsthistorisches Museum of Austria, and the kitschy glamor of '90s Gucci and Eoberto Cavalli, the pair decided to combine these disparate interests in Ebony Tylah.
“We just started by making prototypes on our iPad,” Hartmann continues, “overlaying pants patterns on old images and finding the best position to read the image's narrative. We don't want the narrative of the image to get lost, which can be a little difficult."
It is this respect for the integrity of the original works of art that gives their pieces their unique magic: the paintings are carefully placed on top of denim and mesh to maintain the feel of the original pieces. Featuring Artemisia Gentileschi's Baroque masterpiece Judith Beheading Holofernes, the jeans recreate the painting in all its brutal majesty, with Judith and her accomplice framed at each hip. Elsewhere, medieval text is printed on the figure-hugging top, while a richly illustrated initial letter sits just over the shoulder. “What we love about it is that it’s almost a different way of displaying art, and it’s very personal,” adds Boss. “How much closer can you get to a work of art than literally wearing it on your skin?”
To find the paintings used in Ebony Tylah's clothing, the couple started by visiting some of their favorite museums across Europe. “We wrote to these institutions and paid for some of the paintings, while some of the really popular Old Master paintings are kept in archives,” Hartmann says. “Museums in Scandinavia and the Netherlands really helped us get licenses. I think they want their paintings to be shared, although they are still very curious to know what you plan to do with the images. It's not exactly what you'd find in a regular gift shop."
After enlisting the help of a digital printing company in Thailand to transfer the images onto straight-leg jeans, the designers quickly began gaining a modest but loyal following on Instagram. “We put the first 20 prototypes we had online,” says Boss. “It wasn't like we had a lot of pants sitting at home waiting for clients, it was more a case of trying it out and seeing what people thought of it. We were very surprised by this reaction." Since then, the couple has continued to distribute their products exclusively through direct mail, a sales model that suits them well. "I think Instagram gives you so many opportunities that we didn't know about before we started the brand," Hartmann says. “It’s easy for them, but it’s also nice for us,
so what's next for Ebony Tylah? “After all this feedback and seeing how people get into it, and moving away from that mysterious atmosphere that we were trying to create, we want to focus more on working with some contemporary artists on limited edition pieces,” says Boss. Watch this (carefully imprinted) space.
Source: vogue.com
Need accurate sewing patterns?
Explore our curated digital patterns catalog with verified fit and multi-size grading.
VIEW PATTERNS →
