ANEW #2: Glenn Yungnickel and Sara Andrews

All photos by Alexis Brooks, styling by Matt Nash

Glenn Yungnickel made a colourful splash last year with a capsule AUT graduate range that was literally, all red. At the ANEW collective launch Glenn showed his latest range, created in collaboration with knitwear designer Sara Andrews. The new collection represents the first complete collection from the Yungnickel stable and this time around Glenn keeps the colour blocking trend going with four tonal colour pallettes that can be mixed easily giving customers the freedom to mix and match the colours for their outfit. The four colour ways are natural, coming from the undyed fabrics themselves, the others are navy, cobalt and mustard.

Glenn's use of colour and dying is certainly a signature: "I really wanted to use cobalt for this range as it is such a strong colour take and resembles traditional workman’s overalls relating back to the initial inspiration. Most of the fabrics were picked out and dyed in each colour letting the fabrics dictate the tone of the colour it would pick up, creating the beautiful tonal variations from one garment to another in the same colour. By using the over-dying this creates a worn pre-loved aesthetic to the fabric of the garment. I like to use this wear-and-tear aesthetic within my own design to express ‘the passing of time’ and ‘the worn garment’ to give the garment a sense of memory."

The range is shirt and pant focused although Glenn already has favourites : "Key pieces of the range would be the completely seam-sealed waterproof raincoat in a traditional raincoat yellow. Another would have to be double pleat cuffed short taking reference from an Oxford bag in cotton. The collarless raglan sleeve shirt is another one of my favourites made in dyed linen shirting. Knitwear was also developed for the range in collaboration with knitwear designer Sara Andrews."

Sara Andrews has a Bachelor of Design and two years experience working for Crane Brothers to help inform her knitwear creations. Her involvement is indicative of the collaborative spirit within the group: " I collaborated with Glenn Yungnickel, and developed a range of knitwear to sit alongside and compliment his work. I have a very organic approach when designing knitwear, and I like to work directly with my fabric so I worked on a hand machine, mixing and blending yarns to create a strong depth of colour and texture."

Glenn and Sara reflect a desire to develop new trends in local menswear, an ambition shared by the entire collective. Says Glenn: "Men are generally reluctant to experiment with clothing that identifies anything other than a masculine perception of themseves. The idea behind the latest collection was to continue challenging the masculine take on colour, which I started to explore in the development of the ‘In the Red’ collection for Fall 2010. To ensure the consumer is not alienated by the experimentation with colour, where they would traditionally be quite conservative, I have used references such as traditional tailoring details to ground the work. I think menswear at the level of the market I am aiming at is underdeveloped in New Zealand due to the casual culture and lifestyle New Zealand men lead."

Refreshing words indeed.