Una Burke had barely finished her MA in fashion artefacts from Central Saint Martins in London, when she was commissioned to design garments for superstar, Lady Gaga. Since then, Burke's extraordinary leather creations have been in demand by enthusiastic stylists, fashion agents, photographers and even book publishers with numerous requests for her work.
The flesh-coloured leather outfits, bound with brass and screws, certainly look incredible, which is probably why Lady Gaga just had to have no fewer than eight pieces for her global Monster Ball tour. To date, Burke, 29, has supplied the star with a bodysuit and hood, leg, arm and head pieces, and will no doubt have the eccentrically colourful singer craving more figure-hugging outfits.
I caught up with the innovative young designer to find out about her outlandish creations - and her collaboration with Gaga.
GH: Did you always want to become a fashion designer?
UB: I suppose that you could say I got my creative streak from my mother, who was an artist and a home economics teacher. She painted with watercolours, oils, acrylics and ink on silk, so creativity was all around me when I was growing up. I certainly picked up my fashion skills from her too, she was a fantastic dressmaker and, when I was a little girl, she'd make elaborate dresses for my Barbie dolls, which I loved. My grandfather was also a talented shoemaker, so you could say that I got it from both sides.
GH: What inspired you to get into fashion design?
UB: I know that this may sound slightly strange, but I had an epiphany at around the age of 14, which convinced me that I should follow a career in fashion design. When I was that age, I really loved art and presumed that I would follow my mother's footsteps and go on to become a painter but every night, when I was trying to get to sleep, I'd dream about fashion. You know that half dreaming state when you are half awake half asleep? I'd see models walking down the catwalk wearing the kind of clothes that I'd never seen before and I could see every detail, right down to the stitching on the pockets.
GH: Where did you go to school? What did you study?
UB: I originally studied fashion at the Limerick College of Design. It's a fantastic college but, unfortunately, it does not always get the press coverage that it deserves and that's probably because it's outside of Dublin. I really enjoyed my time in Limerick but it was hard going. With fashion you need to eat, sleep and breathe it. When I was in college I'd end up spending my food money on fashion magazines, as it's a very expensive course. But, in life, you really need to do something that you love or you just won't settle.
GH: How did Lady Gaga come to find out about your work?
UB: When I left college in February of 2009, I lent a photographer friend of mine some pieces from my final collection and thought nothing more of it. Somehow, the photographs that he took ended up on the web, where they were spotted by the Italian-Japanese stylist Nicola Formichetti, who works with Lady Gaga.I got a phone from Nicola and she borrowed a lot of my designs to show to her - Gaga loved my work so much that she commissioned me to make pieces for her current tour.
I needed to make the pieces from scratch, so that they would be easy for her to wear on stage; especially when she's dancing or moving about. It was a bit crazy because I was sent her measurements only a few days before the show! She wanted eight custom made pieces to wear for the Monster World tour and I'll never forget how hard I worked getting the pieces finished. I stiched and glued and glued through the night, without time to eat or sleep - I lost half a stone that week.
GH: What did you enjoy about designing the costumes for Lady Gaga?
UB: I love Gaga. Everyone is intrigued by her and what she's doing. She's really helped a lot of young designers get their names out there because she's endorsed their work and supported their creativity. I think that people also like her because she puts a little excitement and colour into their day. She's very business savvy and considering the fact that she's only been in the public eye for a year, she's certainly achieved a lot. Sometime people that rise to fame that quickly are just a flash in the pan but I think that Lady Gaga will be around for years to come.
GH: How has your collaboration with Lady Gaga help promote your label?
UB: Her endorsement has increased my media exposure tenfold and it's hard to take in as it's quite surreal. I was not trying to change the world with my designs and I just wanted to create something beautiful that I loved, so the sudden attention is not something that I expected. To be dressing someone who is such a huge style icon is hard to take in- she's the equivalent of Madonna in her heyday.
GH: Describe your philosophy about the art of fashion.
UB: My work has always crossed the boundaries between fashion and art. My final year degree show was focused around the idea of protection and worked my designs around that idea. I looked at wedding dresses and the sense of innocence that they embody and took that as a starting point. I then coated the lace in a plastic resin, so that it became hard. Then I took soft leather, pleated it and gathered it, which made it soft and girly. The idea was to take two main fabrics and then use them in the opposite way to their usual use or appearance.
The designs are otherworldly' and each item is made from hand-cut, vegetable-tanned leather glued to resemble prosthetics or medical braces for broken bones and spinal injuries. I've based these pieces on human trauma and the manifestation of psychological damage in body shape. My work is a blending between fashion and art.
GH: If you hadn't become a fashion designer, what other career you think you would have chosen?
UB: For me fashion and art is all about looking into things at a deeper level and if I hadn't been a painter, I most certainly would have been a physiologist.
GH: Looking forward, what are your plans for your label in the future?
UB: The response to my work so far has been amazing; I can't come to terms with it. I've had around 33 requests from all over the world (including Vogue). The pieces have been in Dazed and Confused, have been photographed for Numéro magazine and five items have gone to New York to be photographed by Stephen Klein. As for the future, I'm meeting with heads at Vauxhall to discuss the possibility of showing at London Fashion Week.
I'm not in any big hurry though. I want to take my time. I want to make something beautiful. I want to do it right.
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