{"id":14645,"date":"2011-12-13T15:04:08","date_gmt":"2011-12-13T19:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/modacycle.com\/?p=14645"},"modified":"2011-12-13T15:04:08","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T19:04:08","slug":"ashley-lloyd-fear-nostalgia-or-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modacycle.com\/old_modacycle_jan_2016\/2011\/12\/13\/ashley-lloyd-fear-nostalgia-or-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashley Lloyd – Fear, Nostalgia, or Beauty?"},"content":{"rendered":"

story by Graham M. Steffen
\nphotos by Ned & Aya Rosen
\nhair styling by Hitomi Mura
\nmake-up by Isabel Ruiz
\nmodel is Theresa from Ford Women<\/p>\n

\"\"
designer Ashley Lloyd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The interplay between life and death, decay and rebirth, are common elements in the world of art. It is rare, however, for a fashion designer to be able to illustrate these tensions in their work simply as a matter of practicality. Ashley Lloyd, a young milliner based in Brooklyn\u2019s Bushwick neighborhood, balances the grotesque and the beautiful on a razor\u2019s edge. She utilizes a variety of remains and relics that includes skulls, horns, insects and deconstructed birds, among other artifacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey affect me, or hold some power over me in some way, shape, or form. I’m drawn to them, whether the attachment stems from fear, nostalgia, or beauty.\u201d<\/h2>\n

Drawing on inspiration from her childhood in Jacksonville, Florida, where she accompanied her father on hunting and fishing trips, as well as from visits to Italian reliquaries in Florence, Ms. Lloyd makes hats that recall the Renaissance interest in the macabre but also involve the wildlife and naturalism of rural America.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love items with a history – remnants of a life once had.\u201d<\/h2>\n

Viewing the works firsthand, one gains an appreciation of the craftsmanship; each feather, beetle, or bone is delicately and exactingly placed, yet the disorder of nature is still maintained, as though the materials had chosen their own positioning. It is obvious that the creator knows when to step back from a piece and let it stand alone, without fussing over the details.<\/p>\n