Designers

FRIEDRICH GRAY

Friedrich Gray is a dark, brooding character, an atypical neo-gothic hero.
Alter ego of designer Ben Pollitt, Friedrich Gray is the character upon which the label is based.
Friedrich’s exploits form the inspiration for each collection, which is based on a narrative, another chapter in the life of the fictional protagonist.
The dark horse of Australian fashion, Pollitt’s story has been unconventional from the outset. He launched a clothing label with no formal training in fashion and refuses to be dictated to by established concepts of design, rather entering into the creative process with a more instinctive
approach.
Pollitt studied industrial design and building construction in Sydney, before relocating to New York. The idea for the label germinated during years spent in New York, and upon Pollitt’s return from to Australia, the first chapter in the Friedrich Gray tome was writ.
Armed with a strong vision and design sensibility, Pollitt started out labouring by night on his label, while working as a delivery van driver during the day for the Corner Store’s Belinda Seper.
Foremost in the self-taught designer’s mind was the desire to articulate something. His starting point was a singular aesthetic ideal of what a garment would look like and how it would sit on
the body.
Pollitt showed his first solo collection at Australian Fashion Week in April 2007, and the same year was named the winner in the fashion category of the prestigious Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards 2007. The label’s role in the chronicles of Australian fashion was quickly established.
The label assumed its own personality, characterised by understated style with subtle details.
Cuts are individual and timeless, and clothing fulfils a function as well as meeting the stringent requirements of form.
With an almost obsessive adherence to his distinctive creative vision, Pollitt has created stylised moodiness with his exacting and experimental use of fabric. He experiments with weights and drapes of fabric, making leather soft, silk stiff, and sometimes fluid. Fabrics are selected for the tactile experience of the wearer.

Unusual constructions offer movement and panels provide a strong visual effect. Jeans are skintight, jackets slim-fit yet flowing, and tanks trail in the wind. Sleeves provide an unexpected dénouement to a garment, super-fine cottons are zipped and draped to create androgynous shapes for layering.
Androgyny is a utility of the clothing, not a theme; Friedrich Gray garments are created to push the boundaries, with subplots to be interpreted by the wearer, male or female.
He draws influence from moody music, listening to experimental bands while he works to allow his imagination to roam unfettered. Designing is an all-consuming process for Pollitt, and one that takes him to places of great light and darkness.
Collaborating with Australian artists including Scrapwall for prints, Pollitt also works on an ongoing basis with Think Positive to create the one-off digital prints for his collections.
The designer is preoccupied with delivering timeless relevance rather than a seasonal application, with quality fabrics and meticulous construction rather than trend or price.
Pollitt’s designs overstep a seasonal, trend-driven approach to fashion, comprising of elements of both summer and winter attire for his conceptual collections that meld seamlessly together from season to season. Garments are part of a continual, evolving body of work, rather than being broken up into seasonal ranges.