Giger is a black and white mock neck top, cut in custom-printed 100% organic silk crêpe de chine. It features a placement print, which means the panels were specially selected to hit specific parts of the body when being worn. It was painted in-house by our Creative Director, Katarina Protsack.

Having a lifelong obsession with sci-fi films, specifically the movie Aliens, Katarina wanted to pay homage to the mystery of oblivion with references to the creator of the xenomorph "Alien", biomechanical art pioneer H.R. Giger. Giger is prolific in the worlds of gothic art and science fiction. His work on the first film adaptation of Dune in the 1970s (not to be confused with the critically panned David Lynch 1984 adaptation) laid a blueprint for the explosion of science fiction as a mainstream cinema genre. His ideas for Dune led to his Academy Award-winning visual effects and art direction on Alien, in which he created its iconic, perfect, matriarchal villain. Today, his work is still referenced in sci-fi cinema, most recently in the incredible set and character design in Denis Villeneuve's 2021 adaptation of Dune.

Li I by H.R. Giger [1974].

Giger's art, which is described as biomechanical, explores a horrifying yet fascinating future where humans and machines combine as one organism. He most famously painted with airbrush, creating incredibly detailed, sexualized alien landscapes and figures. His art is dark, at times humorous, and explicit, representing the body as a machine. It is representative of oblivion - what happens when our machines - our bodies - stop working? Is a hybrid biomechanical future the only way for humans to achieve immortality?

For the Giger Top's painted design, Katarina created what she describes as a "Blue Nude organic" interpretation of Giger's biomechanical art. After observing how light reflects off the body when covered in latex, Katarina used her placement observations to paint simple white lines as contrast accents on the top. When being worn, they give a mechanized feel, highlighting the industry of our bodies and the bones that hold us up on the inside. On the front left side of the top is a spiral, representing the divine feminine. On the back, a waved line referencing the iconic spine of the Alien.

The artwork was painted on a large 140 x 100 cm canvas - the scale of a metred roll of fabric. Each pattern piece, which is essentially a 'puzzle' piece that indicates how the fabric should be cut and sewn together, was measured and taped onto the fabric, with the white shapes being painted within the parameters for accurate placement on the body when cut. The artwork was then digitally scanned, and printed on silk for cutting and sewing.

Painting Giger's placement prints in our East London studio.

Giger is printed on 100% organic silk crêpe de chine. Silk is a natural fibre collected from cocoons made by silkworms, which feed on the leaves of mulberry trees. The mulberry tree requires no pesticides or fertilizers and is grown organically, requiring less water than cotton. The silk's manufacturer, Bombyx, has Bluesign certification for responsible and sustainable textile manufacturing and production. They also have a Certification of Environmental Standards with SRS, and a CERES Organic Silk Certification. The silk originates from Hong Kong, is delivered to the UK by ship to reduce carbon emissions, then digitally printed in England.

Giger is manufactured at a small-batch production studio in South London. The studio specializes in high-end production, working with many emerging designers and brands in the city. Each piece is made by hand in-studio by their talented seamstresses and cutters. It takes over three hours to cut and sew just one top. 

You can buy the sustainably-made Giger Silk Mock Neck Top here.