Carlos Campos Says Texture is the New Black

“If I were a chair, I would be a desk. If I were an animal, I would be a cat. If I were a box, it would be open. If I were a place, it would be in the shadow. The ret are textures and degraded colors.” (Rafafans, Spanish Graphic artist and Art Director for Carlos Campos) Carlos Campos presented his artistic Fall 2015 collection for NYMD, held at Industria Superstudio and presented by Cadillac.

The collection was inspired by Rafafans. In his chosen mediums of collage and photomontage, Rafafans creates dreamlike images with a subtle sense of playfulness and humor, informed by his deep understanding of textural and color interplay. Campos says he discovered Rafafans’ work while walking the streets of Lima. He was fascinated by his use of patterns and collage to create new texture over existing images. Campos said “Although the essence of the image was recognizable, what was done to it rendered it completely new and almost surreal.”

So the Rafafans created a series of work based on Campos’ Fall 2014 collection. He was then inspired to emulate Rafafan’s techniques for this new collection, overlaying collage-like graphic treatments and patchwork elements as well as incorporating photo-realistic prints, while maintaining attention to detail, tailoring, and minimalism, which are all Campos signatures. Carlos describes this collection as being about “the transformative powers of art to change perception, change in the eye of the beholder. My designs this season leverage the power of texture and shape to appear different depending on the angle. You could say that this Fall, for me, texture is the new black.”

Designs for the season have been constructed in a streamlined palette of solid blues, with accents of plaids and stripes. The collection features constructed panels of striking designs that invoke wave-like movement, overlaid silk-screened prints, and the use of shapes, contours, and topography to create texture and op-art like effects. The suits are classically constructed, yet cropped, allowing for hints of underlying textures and colors to peek thru. Campos’ new take on outerwear incorporates “texture blocking” while maintaining a sleek, modern silhouette. Sweatshirts featuring Campos’ iconic images and designs round out a collection that deftly blurs the lines between dreams & reality.