“How many things
Are lost and found,
Only to be lost again?”
There is something unusual that draws me to Lost and Found by Ria Dunn, something alive and ephemeral that wrestles me as I write, resisting being defined by my words. And yet, I persist, poring over garments and searching each for a hint of its origin, of what it was that inspired it.
I found, without doubt, traces of time in each garment. Old techniques preserved, and patterns rediscovered. Textures, shapes and silhouettes are cut not with reference to modern trends, but from what has borne them through the years and kept alive their memory. And I am left with a grounding sense of connection to something whole, something old, and the nostalgia of where I’ve come from and a hint of where I’m going.
Are lost and found,
Only to be lost again?”
There is something unusual that draws me to Lost and Found by Ria Dunn, something alive and ephemeral that wrestles me as I write, resisting being defined by my words. And yet, I persist, poring over garments and searching each for a hint of its origin, of what it was that inspired it.
I found, without doubt, traces of time in each garment. Old techniques preserved, and patterns rediscovered. Textures, shapes and silhouettes are cut not with reference to modern trends, but from what has borne them through the years and kept alive their memory. And I am left with a grounding sense of connection to something whole, something old, and the nostalgia of where I’ve come from and a hint of where I’m going.
Her men’s collections speak of the masculine world: a melding of elegance, ruggedness and sensuality; the raw and unguarded essence of man. But her women’s collections shy away from simple definition, instead offering a kinder harmony. There is the allure of the understated shyness, balanced against a deep-felt eroticism shown through form and figure.
Silhouettes are reimagined. Conformity is unimportant. Symmetry not a given. Strength unspoken. Rawness embraced. Drape unhindered. Flow permitted. Figure hinted. And purpose left unquestioned, like the silence in a room, or the age of the mountain.
I see the circle of life, the beating of hearts, and the patchworking of souls. In each weave there is the losing and finding and the losing again of what it is that matters most to us: emotion, love, life, pain, and death. For we are, all of us, weathered by the passing of time.
Silhouettes are reimagined. Conformity is unimportant. Symmetry not a given. Strength unspoken. Rawness embraced. Drape unhindered. Flow permitted. Figure hinted. And purpose left unquestioned, like the silence in a room, or the age of the mountain.
I see the circle of life, the beating of hearts, and the patchworking of souls. In each weave there is the losing and finding and the losing again of what it is that matters most to us: emotion, love, life, pain, and death. For we are, all of us, weathered by the passing of time.
Ria Dunn’s story is a beautiful one. Since her childhood, the creative process was ever in her world. In Vancouver, she grew up amidst a world of contrasts: the untamed nature of British Colombia that gave way to farm lands, suburbs and finally the chaos of the city. Perhaps it was here, somewhere in the harmony of contradiction, that she discovered her creativity.
And perhaps like many that find themselves drawn to her clothing, Dunn was seen as an unusual child, one who turned to music, art and skateboarding over more common teen pastimes. Studies in Fine Arts, Interiors and Photography followed, and couture photography led her ever towards fashion across Toronto, Montreal, and the United States.
But something called her to a home she’d not known in this life: Italy, for her always a place of admiration and of beauty. After meeting the artist Alessandro Esteri on a buying trip, she moved once more to Tuscany. Tired of the commercial reality of fashion and the pressures of following the system, she was free to explore her esthetic, and together with Esteri, created Lost & Found, and sister label ROOMS, hers with which to redefine the meaning of luxury, and find the balance between the traditional and the contemporary.
And perhaps like many that find themselves drawn to her clothing, Dunn was seen as an unusual child, one who turned to music, art and skateboarding over more common teen pastimes. Studies in Fine Arts, Interiors and Photography followed, and couture photography led her ever towards fashion across Toronto, Montreal, and the United States.
But something called her to a home she’d not known in this life: Italy, for her always a place of admiration and of beauty. After meeting the artist Alessandro Esteri on a buying trip, she moved once more to Tuscany. Tired of the commercial reality of fashion and the pressures of following the system, she was free to explore her esthetic, and together with Esteri, created Lost & Found, and sister label ROOMS, hers with which to redefine the meaning of luxury, and find the balance between the traditional and the contemporary.
Free to explore, reimagine and create, Dunn returns emotion into clothing. She embraces finishes, treatments and materials that have all but disappeared from the modern luxury industry. Antique shapes, traditional textiles, sartorial techniques, stylistic designs and unique textures once lost are found again. Fibres existing in their purest form are combined with more refined materials, and imbued with the deep sense of cultures long forgotten.
For Ria, it’s important to preserve the connection with our past, and in our undeniably disposable society, she finds true value in creating something that speaks of where it is that we’ve come from. Sustainability is important, and not in the commercial sense. No, a deeper sustainability. A moral sustainability. The sustainability of culture and history and people, those that still walk our streets and farm our lands and speak our tongues. And time, inexorable in its march forth, is defied by the art that we make from our memories.
Through this, I find great connection to her clothing, especially in an age where few ever pause long enough to look back, instead transfixed on momentary trends and self-proclaimed experts and influencers. I am reminded of her words of protest: “I am sick and tired of people telling me how I am suppose to talk and share with you. Everyone is a “Social Media” expert..Specialist, Influencer!? I don’t want filters…or people interpreting my feelings..my vision, my ideas. I want this to be about me + you. Pure…Real…Raw…”
And her work is exactly that: pure, real, raw. There is an authenticity rarely seen in each of her collections. An interaction between each garment and the wearer, a connection between silhouette and body. A kind of harmony between human and textile: primal, delicate, and purposeful, connected to the past.
And her work is exactly that: pure, real, raw. There is an authenticity rarely seen in each of her collections. An interaction between each garment and the wearer, a connection between silhouette and body. A kind of harmony between human and textile: primal, delicate, and purposeful, connected to the past.
And like us, Dunn’s garments lose their virginal texture to the inexorable passing of time. The naïve beauty of youth ages and fades, becoming as much the wearer as Dunn herself. And perhaps that is how it was intended to be: the essence of one life passed to another.
Lost and Found reminds us that our clothes, like us, are not disposable. Not replaceable. Not consumable. No, they are more, as are we. And within this more there is meaning, and within this meaning there is chaos, and within this chaos there is beauty, and within this beauty is the circle of life, leading inexorably to whatever comes next.
And maybe that’s it, what Lost and Found represents: a reflection on the past, a remembering of humbling beginnings, an acknowledgement of emotion, of the harmony within contradiction, of the cycle of life, of the beauty of loss, and of finding ourselves in the chaos.
Lost and Found reminds us that our clothes, like us, are not disposable. Not replaceable. Not consumable. No, they are more, as are we. And within this more there is meaning, and within this meaning there is chaos, and within this chaos there is beauty, and within this beauty is the circle of life, leading inexorably to whatever comes next.
And maybe that’s it, what Lost and Found represents: a reflection on the past, a remembering of humbling beginnings, an acknowledgement of emotion, of the harmony within contradiction, of the cycle of life, of the beauty of loss, and of finding ourselves in the chaos.
