We’ve never been the ones who shy away from the concept of death. If anything, we are fascinated by the meaning of mortality and the truth that nothing is permanent.

 

27 Club picks up from By Moumi’s much loved Wish You Were Here collection (2016) - an ode of longing to loved ones who pass away. Similarly, this collection touches on lyrical interpretation of the works by legendary members who left us too soon: Jimi Hendrix (1970), Janis Joplin (1970), and Jim Morrison (1971). Intentionally superficial so it can be open to interpretation, 27 Club merely lifts images of the songs to create By Moumi’s original prints for this season.

 

This began when Director Choltida Pekanan was reading Danny Sugerman’s Wonderland Avenue - a memoir of a boy who became friends with Jim Morrison and eventually got to work with his band, the Doors. The book paints the picture of the music scene in Los Angeles from the 1960s to the 1970s, more particularly, in the hills of Laurel Canyon. 27 Club is an homage to what culminate in the core of our being - the music, the artists, the place, and the time.

 

Montaged together are visual tidbits from three songs: Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower”, Janis Joplin’s “Half Moon”, and The Doors’ “The Wasp (Texas Radio & The Big Beat)”; ultimately ending where the three designer cats (Moumi, Myogi, and Kikilala) meet at the crossroads - also a reference to The Godfather of the Club, blues musician Robert Johnson. These prints, surreal, and psychedelic, are printed on chiffon, pearlised satin and liquid shimmering organdie; mixed with bold polka dots of the various scales, glittered lurex jersey. All are in black and white, but with the use of colour piping that can be seen both on the outside, and on seam-finishing techniques inside. 

 

To most people, The 27 Club is stories of excess gone wrong. To us, the idea of living on the edge is preferable to doing things in moderation and getting nowhere. After all, life’s a journey. How you travel through it is what counts, and once you reach the destination, you start again.