Carri Munden

Carri Munden is an English fashion designer. Born as Carri Munden, she is also credited as Carri Munden and CassettePlaya, her fashion label. She currently works and lives in London.

In addition to her lines, Munden has worked as a stylist for music videos and tours. She says of those she works with, "We have the same references... I translate their sound into clothes." Munden graduated in fashion design at the University of Westminster. She met fellow designer and close friend Mathangi Arulpragasam while the latter was looking to include a subject in one of her films; she describes the two as "the only weirdos in west London" at the time.

She has worked with several people including M.I.A. (a tracksuit for "Galang"), Klaxons ("Atlantis to Interzone"), Dizzee Rascal, Late of the Pier, Patrick Wolf, Ruff Sqwad, Boy Better Know and Afrikan Boy among others. Munden is a contributing fashion editor of Super Super magazine, contributor and stylist for i-D, and has collaborated with Nicola Formichetti of Dazed & Confused. Her designs have also been worn by Nelly Furtado and Rihanna.

Munden began designing for Klaxons at the beginning of their career. Munden has also styled and art directed a Billionaire Boys Club shoot for Dazed & Confused, and "Dunk Be True", an exhibition in the East End of London, focusing on the iconic Nike Dunk, in which she also appeared. She and designer Steve Loveridge were commissioned by M.I.A. to contribute artwork for her 2007 album Kala.

In 2007, Munden was nominated for "Best Menswear Designer" at the British Fashion Awards, alongside Christopher Bailey and Alexander McQueen.

In 2008, she was named by Rolling Stone magazine as "Best Fashion Designer" of 2008 in their "Best of Rock" issue.

She has presented her work four times at MAN, an initiative for new menswear as part of London Fashion Week, and also showcased her work in a Pitti Immagine sponsored exhibition as part of the Milan Fashion Week. Her first MAN showcase was a film installation (MAN Fall/Winter 2006/07), then a show for Spring/Summer 2007, followed by a film shown on the runway and then her "Future Primitive" show for Spring/Summer 2008.

In collaboration with Nike, a Cassette Playa Nike Blazer Premium was exclusively created and featured in her Spring/Summer 2008 show, to be released in selected international stores in late 2008. In July 2008, her work is presented in the "Fashion V Sport" exhibition at London's V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum). International outlets where her clothes sell include Dover Street Market in London, Colette in Paris, SlamJam in Milan, Seven in New York, and Side by Side in Tokyo amongst others. On her MySpace account, Munden lists the Kokon to Zai at London and Paris, Walter Store at Antwerp, Henrik Wibskov Store in Copenhagen, the Black Market in Stockholm, Daily Projects in Seoul, Ambush in Singapore, Shine in Hong Kong, and UK Style in Moscow as boutiques that also stock CassettePlaya.

Munden was commissioned by Nintendo DS to provide vinyl and foil artwork rooted in customisation for the console's MySims world game. A 2008 live video jumpdance installation work at the Pitti Uomo in Florence, Italy was particularly well received -showcasing "street gang pixel warriors joined by Sci-fi grime boys" sporting varying garments.

In 2010, Munden appeared in a fashion-themed episode of series six of The Apprentice.

Carri will be working on a "collaboration" with SHINee's Key in their next concert outfit, hopefully.

Influenced by her subjects' art, Munden has also cited several global traditions including '90s skater fashion, Japanese anime, African prints, neon, and '90s rave as influences in addition to animals, science and science fiction. She describes the CassettePlaya universe as "techno, primal, positive, tribal." CassettePlaya is known a pioneer of the new rave genre in fashion although CassettePlaya has distanced herself from the term, saying it is "Vacant in retro. It's just a marketing machine.... I guess it was a fun time but I'm more excited about what happens now. The next level – the next generation. There's a mood of neo-spiritualism and futurism that excites me." Her use of paw print fabrics and "evil looking animal masks" led some to describe her fashions as having "a certain wrath-of-Technoticlan vibe." She says "I draw really heavily from ancient hunting rituals, but my collection was also inspired by Eighties and Nineties skate culture...I wanted to bring that ancient Shamanic vibe to the city today." Aztec art was cited as inspiring her use of orange in early lines. She describes some of her designs as "quite cartoon" but that she has "no intention of making people look funny". Designing wear for men, she feels her designs make male wearers more 'masculinated', stating "You have to be hard to carry it off." Interested in video games, her most recent line references YouTube, text messaging and circuit bending, propelled by her desire to create a matrix with wearers "stepping into the gaming world with no way to get back out."