Amidst the last year’s surge in interest in bondage-inspired couture leatherwear, New York-based designer Zana Bayne’s intricate harnesses and accessories have stood far ahead. More fashion-forward than dungeon-ready, her pieces have graced the pages of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, their strong, geometric shapes cutting floating dresses and elegant gowns.

In a couple of years she’s gone from selling a couple of pieces on Etsy to showcasing her designs at New York Fashion Week and dressing the industry’s elite. Zana Bayne gives classic pieces her own, distinctive twist: cute winged shoulder-pieces, a playful yet fetishistic necklace-harness that resembles a shirt-collar, a chest piece that draws an elegant pentagram over the back, a harness that forms a webbed cravat tie. Softer pieces combine leather and rope to give close-fitting and flexible body-adornment.

Zana Bayne uses the harness as a starting point for creating a diverse and unusual array of accessories, including belts, braces and boot-straps.

After designing a unique full-body harness for Lady Gaga’s ‘You and I’ video, the designer’s hard-edged aesthetic has been gathering ever-more attention, with Zana Bayne being named as one of Forbes’ ‘Top 30 under 30’ in Art and Design last year. Collaborations with designer Prabal Gurung have shown off the versatility of Bayne’s pieces; accessorising elegant gowns and glittering cocktail dresses, as well as worn in a more androgynous style over shirts and vests.

Zana Bayne has said she is inspired by the lines of the body and uses this in her designs, creating pieces that work with the human form, rather than restricting it. Her pieces are durable, hard-wearing items as well as beautiful additions to a wide-range of outfits.

Bayne keeps her own avant-garde fashion blog, “Garbage Dress” in which she has documented her career from the first harness she created, to more recent collaborations and publications of her work. The blog also documents Bayne’s own vampish personal style and her adventures in fashion and beyond. Her passion and personality sing clear through everything she creates and I’m sure we’ll be seeing yet more exciting and innovative projects in the coming year.

Meet Ally Richards

Ally Richards has written 12 articles for Noir.

Ally writes and takes photos. She loves glitter, robots and dressing for the dystopia.

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