“Bellows n.pl. In couture, side fold consisting of two parallel pleats, designed to increase the depth of the garment, creating volume and generating movement”.

Victor Cardona and Israel Bonache’s monochrome aesthetics might be a sartorial left over from their time in Antwerp, but the design duo has, since the label’s incarnation in 2008, found their own distinct look. Using different strong detail themes each season, the Spring Summer 2011 collection focused on bellows, which took its visual shape on shoes, dresses and jackets.

Fabric was layered in the same way as a bellow, which offered an interesting silhouette. Beige, off white and light grey dominated on cropped jackets and short dresses. Technically advanced fabrics shared the stage with pearl white cotton, showing off a sleek sexiness.  The final exits were more print orientated and came out in a subtle green shade. All in all, Cardona Bonache presented a focused collection, with a strong fundamental theme and the threads to back it up.

Dazed Digital: What was the red thread going through the collection?
Victor Cardona & Israel Bonache: The idea was bellows. Each season we work with a technical fashion concept, like bellows or pleats. The first look was the explanation of that and it finishes with the last printed dress.

DD: How do you go from the white bellow dress in the beginning to the green printed one at the end?
Victor Cardona & Israel Bonache: It’s a print of a bellow! We took pictures of one and played around with it until we got the print…

DD: How would you describe the look of the collection?
Victor Cardona & Israel Bonache: Geometric, plain, texture and architecture.

DD: You seemed to be using a lot of technical fabrics…
Victor Cardona & Israel Bonache: Sometimes we used natural fabrics with a coating and treatment, but others are purely synthetic.

DD: Favourite piece in the collection?
Victor Cardona & Israel Bonache: The last exit, the print dress!