It is not often that a designer label is regarded as a cultural landmark. The title of ‘landmark’ is often an honour to be earned through construction of great architectural feats, museums of grandeur and sites of historical or spiritual significance. So it hardly seems fitting to categorise the designs of Easton Pearson as historically significant or anything remotely resembling a cultural landmark. 
However, consider this. The ultimate guardian of cultural heritage is often the nation-state and yet, many remnants of the past are threatened by neglect and the fear of crippling under the pressure of the market, as office spaces and skyscrapers replace ancestral tombs and historic buildings. A prime example was the 2008 refurbishment (read ‘semi-demolition’) of the Brisbane Regent Theatre, a heritage landmark, to accommodate for a 38-storey office building. It follows that, if the people of Brisbane cannot trust their state to maintain anything other than a historical facade and a grand staircase or two, who can be entrusted to protect our cultural heritage? The answer is simple – you, the people.
The design house of Easton Pearson, founded in March 1989 and headed by Lydia Pearson and Pamela Easton, plays a significant role in the cultural make-up of Brisbane, its people and its approach to style. The designers behind Easton Pearson do not design clothes. They design an interface between historic and modern influences, they merge eclectic textiles from varied cultural terrains and most importantly, they tell a story. It is said that there is something particularly devastating about destroying a library during a war. This is because a library stands not just as a historical monument and centre of knowledge, but more than that, it houses memories, remnants of people’s lives and bound volumes of physical proof that a culture and people once existed there. Buildings however, are easily destroyed. This is why a good storyteller is invaluable.
Easton Pearson’s designs tell a tale of a city. Yet, the stories are not about the city. They are about the individual components that make up the city or place – namely its people, their approach to culture and what they can teach us about the past.
To celebrate the retrospective of Easton Pearson, a showing of selected designs will be exhibited in the Brisbane Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) until November 8th 2009, as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations. On display, eclectic chemise blouses in soft cotton and silk fabrics inspire the mind to wander towards the rich ethnography of Eastern Europe. Linen, hemp, wool and silk homespun fabrics were often woven together in places such a Romania and Moldavia. The exuberant gypsy culture of Eastern Europe is thought to be long forgotten or at best marginalised to the fringe of mainstream society. 
Yet the latest obsession in the cultural epicentre that is Paris, city of light, is far removed from couture, soft Debussy tunes and Louvre exhibits. One only needs to visit the trendy neighbourhood of Pigalle, where the crowds once swung to the can-can beats of the Moulin Rouge, to see the transformed neighbourhood of swinging skirts and barefoot dancers tapping their feet to the latest Balkan folk tunes of Franco-Italian DJ, Tagada. Easton Pearson pays homage to this historic ethnic trend and reinvents the rich colours, patterns and free-flowing designs for the cultural melting pot that is the modern Australian consumer market.
The designers, Lydia and Pamela, draw further inspiration from their travels. The distinct brand, ‘Isles of the Pacific’, is embroidered on one particularly eclectic dress. The dress is made of pliable fabric, a soft fibre cloth showcasing mangrove plants, frigate birds flying through the coconut trees and villagers scraping coconut meat to create ‘lolo’, the coconut cream. Easton Pearson portrays the rich island culture of Fiji in playful patterns that create movement and juxtapose the labour of the fishermen with the tranquillity of birds, coconut trees and soft waves as they encroach the shoreline. Easton Pearson understands that bright design patterns are not merely a beautiful interface; they are patterns of great cultural pride. In Fiji, soft ‘tapa’ clothes derived from fibrous masi cloth are generally made from natural materials, such as mangrove plants infused with candlenut bark and burnt tree resin of the dakua tree. It was a matter of ancient village pride for the women to weave the tapa cloth with rich textures, colours and cultural references to family lines and village honour. Easton Pearson have followed the design motif and inspiration of Australia’s island neighbours to create a vivid pattern which tells a story of island life and beach culture – a story that resonates only too well with sunny Queenslanders.
The designs of Easton Pearson embody the cultural diversity of modern Australia. Leaving the sandy beaches of Fiji and travelling across the Orient of the East, Easton Pearson invites the Australian consumer on a journey across lotus country. Japanese people have always harboured a strong appreciation of nature and flowers. Across China and Korea, were Buddhism is a prominent religion; the lotus flower, in particular, is used to represent the life of Buddha. It is theorised that the ever-lasting lotus flower is an embodiment of Buddha, who grew out of the darkness of society to become truthful, serene and immortal. A stunning maxi-dress, entwined with a bow tied loosely at the back, is infused with rich tie-dyed textures of floral lotus patterns, interwoven together on soft, loose fabrics that entice the wearer to embrace a deep respect for nature. There is something magnificent about the serenity of our natural environment and a keen appreciation for land is not foreign to Australian consumers. We are a nation of people who pride ourselves on the majestic beauty of the Daintree Rainforest and yet find an equal allure to the sunburnt outback and harsh terrain of the desert plains. Easton Pearson’s cascading dress stands as a reminder of Australians’ strong link to nature and as an enduring symbol of the beauty of simplicity. In a world where designers are turning out increasingly ‘edgy’ designs, severe symmetrical patterns and killer heels, it’s nice to know that women can take comfort in fluid, natural patterns that drape across their bodies and serve only to flatter their femininity, not to constrain or attempt to redefine it.
Easton Pearson is a design house du jour that beautifully restores subdued ethnic pride, a respect for texture and design as a symbol of cultural heritage and a deep appreciation of how design elements interact within a cultural landscape. The well-respected brand of Lydia Pearson and Pamela Easton is an icon of Brisbane and yet, it would be remiss to suggest that this is because the brand represents the women of Brisbane. No. The brand represents women of diverse cultural influences and mixed ideologies, most of whom happen to live in Brisbane.
BLK1 Article: NADA MARTINOVIC
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