Upon first glance, the designs of Chelsea Jean Lamm are a blur of colours and shapes, just barely echoing the human form.
Look closer, and details emerge like puzzle pieces: a butterfly’s wing unfurling in organic symphony with the body, birds in flight springing from the shoulders, textures and objects collaged into something both otherworldly and deeply human. Each work demands hours of painstaking precision.
We have a collection coming up right now, and a large part of it is research,” says the South African-German designer, her face framed by sketches, textile samples, and collages pinned to the wall behind her. “We’ve been researching for two years.”
Collaboration with her sister, fine artist Ashley Elizabeth Lamm, is central to Chelsea’s practice. “I started my brand in 2022, but I’ve been creative ever since I was born,” Chelsea explains. “My parents gave me a pen and paper whenever I was bored, and that taught me to see creativity in everything I touched.” The sisters’ collaboration grew out of that same instinct: creating to make sense of the world. Side by side, they fuse fine art with fashion, producing designs that defy expectation. “We thought this could be a fusion between fine art and fashion design, something new that crosses every border there is.”
The work carries personal resonance. “Ashley and I [became more focused on the project] shortly after our grandmother passed away,” Chelsea says. “We felt a deep need to pour our grief into creativity, a way to celebrate and honour the free-spirited, loving soul that she was.” Grief, the bleakness of Covid, and a desire for hope shaped their practice into what Chelsea calls “visual optimism”, a way of rebelling against a heavy world through colour, imagination, and craft.
For Chelsea, fashion was never about the catwalk or the label. It was about purpose. “I’ve never been obsessed with brands or fashion shows,” she says. “What inspired me were the people creating. I saw so much potential to improve the system, and instead of complaining about it, I wanted to be part of it.”
After research and palette-building, Ashley creates collages from scraps found in second-hand bookstores and junkyards. Chelsea then digitalises, laser-cuts, and hand-embellishes the work with beads, wire, and embroidery. “That’s when it takes the longest,” Chelsea says. “The hand sewing, the beading, the placement, the intense work hours to give each piece stability and strength.” The sisters’ working relationship is both organic and deeply respectful. “I don’t even go near her when she’s collaging because that’s her creative freedom,” Chelsea laughs.
Recognition has followed with features in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and L’Officiel, and exhibitions at ITS Arcademy’s Museum of Art in Fashion, Munich’s Haus der Kunst, and the Helmut Newton Foundation. Yet Chelsea remains focused on something deeper. “I hope the fashion industry becomes kinder. I want to represent my team, to lead with kindness and understanding, and still be respected as a female-led company. If that’s the legacy I can build, I’d love to build it.”
