Callum Helcke
About
My name is Callum and I was born and raised in London. I joined RCA Fashion as both a dancer and chemist with the aim of discovering the spaces between them. To me, the essence of Fashion is in its verb form: ‘fashioning’, which I see as crafting expressions of identity – specifically through the body. With aspirations of becoming a perfumer, I developed an intuitive process of iteration using my backgrounds in movement and chemistry to ideate and create fragrance.
My work captures a way of creating fragrance that was rooted in a personal exploration and embodiment of ephemeral beauty. I wanted to celebrate and know ephemeral beauty as an antidote to a fear of my own transience. Starting from the floor of my unconscious, and allowing it to diffuse outwards into physical form, my work involved a progressive crystallisation of different aspects of myself through etched chalk drawings, movement sketches with fabric and umbelliferae flowers.
I found through my work that the ephemerality of the seasons and my emotions are inseparable, and I designed a fragrance alongside an installation that captured this vanishing intensity.
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