What happens when 30 pieces of fashion hardware take the shape of one of history's most renowned sculptures? For designer Grace Ling, the answer involves intricate chainwork and an appreciation for ancient Greek art.
The New York-based designer has teamed up with CHARLES & KEITH for A Vestige of Chains, a sculpture inspired by the Venus de Milo. Created using 30 chain fragments, the artwork recreates the suggestion of a female figure through carefully arranged metallic links, leaving much of the body to the viewer's imagination.
The piece is part of the accessories brand's Created for 30 anniversary initiative, which invites 30 creatives to reinterpret elements of CHARLES & KEITH's design identity. Ling's contribution takes inspiration from the brand's signature hardware, giving chains normally associated with handbags and accessories a rather different assignment. While chains usually symbolise rigidity or restraint (or a stunning handbag strap), A Vestige of Chains puts a feminine, fluid twist that makes the metal appear feather-light enough to flow with the wind.
The Venus de Milo, With a Metallic Makeover
The original Venus de Milo is best known for its elegant yet incomplete marble silhouette. Ling's interpretation takes the idea of an incomplete figure considerably further, using the spaces between chains to suggest a body that isn't physically there.
The metallic strands curve around the shoulders, waist and hips, with several extending outward as though caught in motion. Others overlap and gather around the lower half, recalling the draped fabric of the ancient sculpture.
Rather than creating a solid torso, Ling relies on the arrangement of the chains to establish its shape. Viewed together, the fragments form a legendary silhouette despite the sizeable gaps between them.
The designer's concept presentation also includes references to CHARLES & KEITH handbags, padlock charms and decorative chain details. The connection is particularly apparent in the sculpture's varying link sizes and arrangements, which resemble the hardware found throughout the brand's accessories.
Behind the 30-Chain Construction
The finished sculpture may look as though its chains have effortlessly been frozen mid-swish, but the construction photographs tell a rather more labour-intensive story. Behind-the-scenes images show workers welding and assembling the metal links, carefully positioning the individual sections to achieve the intended curves. The process requires the chains to hold their shape while retaining the loose, flowing appearance of their original form.
That contrast is what makes the sculpture particularly interesting. Chains are typically associated with weight and restriction, yet Ling has arranged them to suggest the softness and movement of a human figure. CHARLES & KEITH describes the artwork as an exploration of strength and fluidity, with classical references informing its contemporary construction.
Grace Ling's Fashion Credentials
Ling is no stranger to unconventional materials and sculptural silhouettes. Her namesake fashion label centres on what the designer describes as eccentric elegance and intelligent femininity, with an aesthetic that balances formality and sensuality.
According to the biography included in CHARLES & KEITH's presentation, Ling has exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Her work has also appeared in major fashion publications and attracted a following among Hollywood celebrities.
For A Vestige of Chains, those design sensibilities are evident in the way she treats familiar accessory components as the building blocks of a larger composition. It's an unusual assignment for handbag chains, admittedly. With 30 fragments, a classical muse, and some meticulous metalwork, Ling has given CHARLES & KEITH's signature hardware a rather fashionable chain reaction.
