The first half of this year has been an exciting time for independent publishing houses here in Melbourne. February saw the launch of Australia’s first festival dedicated to the photo book, Photobook Melbourne, and launching this Saturday afternoon at Perimeter Books is the second issue of Perimeter Editions in-house magazine, Composite Journal; a half-magazine, half-monograph which traces the oeuvre of a single creative practitioner or practice.

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Following issue #1 which covered the work of acclaimed Belgian photographer, Jan Kempenaers, this issue explores the output, history and creative philosophy of ffiXXed studios, an experimental Australian fashion label and art project based at the foot of Wutong Mountain, outside of Shenzhen, China.

Winner of the Internal Woolmark Prize Asia in 2014, ffiXXed studios is the product of a relationship that is simultaneously personal, creative and propositional. Existing in and outside of the fashion world, Australian-raised design duo Fiona Lau and Kain Picken frame their unisex ready-to-wear collections as a context for various investigations into concerns surrounding lifestyle, modes of production, consumption, and the limits of the garment as a functional object.

Featuring contributions from respected Tokyo-based writer and editor of TOO MUCH: Magazine of Romantic Geography, Cameron Allan McKean; curator Kim Brockett; writer Nadiah Abdulrahim; photographer Emma Phillips; and Composite’s editorial team, Narelle Brewer, Justine Ellis and art critic and writer Dan Rule; among others – this issue is set to be ace.

The pre-launch for the new issue was held at Offprint London and The Tate last month, and it has already been acquired for the V&A Museum’s permanent collection of publications at the British National Art Library.

Kick off that food coma, and come along to celebrate its launch at Perimeter Books this Saturday.

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