Human Plant 1

source: musejhuedu

threeASFOUR (previously known as ASFOUR) was established in 2005 by designers Gabi, Ange, and Adi. Inspired by the natural world, and with a vision of fashion-meets-art in mind, threeASFOUR employ a three-dimensional approach to cut and construction collections that redefine classical tailoring. threeASFOUR’s work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute and the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York, as well as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Musee de la Mode et du Costume Palais Galliera in Paris.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
source: nymag

threeASFOUR is known as much for its bohemian personal past—when there were four designers, they’d sleep in the same bed—as it is for curving layers and intricately ethereal silhouettes, along with the famed circle bags that surfaced on Sex and the City. In 1998, the label—then called AsFour—was started by aspiring downtown designers Kai Kühne, Gabriel (Gabi) Asfour, Adi Gil, and Angela (Ange) Donhauser, who come from Germany, Lebanon, Israel and Tajikistan, respectively. Despite the wacky expressionism from the label’s founding members and the theatrical infighting that led to Kühne’s departure in 2005, the label has acquired clout and credibility in the mainstream. Highlights include a CFDA fund nomination in 2007, which put the team on par with Vogue darlings Phillip Lim and Erin Fetherston and gained them a T-shirt collaboration with the Gap (of all the CFDA nominees, their collection reportedly sold out first). Their avant-garde sensibility, which includes slashed wrap jackets and asymmetrical organza dresses, have also gained attention from prestigious museums like Victoria & Albert and the Met, who have acquired pieces for exhibitions. In 2008, the label branched out from the conceptual ready-to-wear it shows in New York to a swimwear collection.