Archival shopping could not be more popular than it is today. At its most superficial, archive shopping refers to owning an exceedingly rare piece of designer clothing, whilst at its most obsessive, it refers to the act of collecting, researching, and reselling the most coveted pieces out of sheer love, and a maybe a little bit of one-upmanship. Ideally, archive enthusiasts seek items in their best condition and most authentic form, casting a clear black and white light over what remains valuable and what has since been destroyed.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, lies the work of Estelle Tcha. Currently based in Seoul, Korea, this artist is a classically-trained painter from the esteemed School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts in Boston. Having also studied fashion design courses at Parsons in New York and Central Saint Martins in London, Estelle Tcha has made a distinct name for herself in the archival fashion industry.
Utilizing vintage Dior and Levi’s pieces as her blank canvas, Estelle Tcha has established her own brand of unique garments, dubbed ‘Eee’. Indiscriminately applying her surrealist art across the back of Dior blazers in black, hot pink, and houndstooth, Estelle Tcha creates jackets with cut-out astrology-themed canvases, fit in with a velcro-like material which allows customers the liberty of interchangeable designs.
Her brand, which aims to further blur the lines between fashion and art, actively plays on astrology’s fixation between life and death, that she depicts through crabs smoking cigarettes, and scorpions. There are no accidents in Estelle Tcha’s brand, showcasing her love for and desire to make astrology more accessible to the masses, the designer’s work also celebrates her love for the iconic silhouettes of 1950’s Dior New Look.