From bold and sculptural shoulders to soft and voluminous sleeves

Emphasising the structure of the shoulders on jackets and blouses was just one of the main features of power dressing in the ‘80s. Super-structured jackets with big shoulders were often used to create interesting contrasts and give a strange and dramatic look to the silhouette. In more recent years Martin Margiela focused on designing jackets with built up shoulders. In his Autumn/Winter 08 collection, for example, the Belgian designer opted for a rather extravagant shoulder line that literally sprung vertically from the shoulders and rose up past the ears.

This constant focus on the shoulders has also been detectable in the last few years in Nicolas Ghesquière’s collections for Balenciaga with their sculpted high-tech jackets. In his A/W 08 collection, Alexandre Herchcovitch applied instead geometry to his garments, designing jumpsuits and jackets with rather geometrical shoulders or astrakhan padded shoulder-pieces that seemed to imprison the upper part of the body rather than protecting it.

It’s interesting to see though that, little by little, the importance that was given to shoulders in more recent collections is being replaced by another trend that mainly concentrates on sleeves. Indeed some of the outfits from the Spring collections seem to feature quite dramatic, but soft and at times rather long or very ample sleeves. Though I quite like sculpted shoulders, I also love theatrical sleeves as I think they influence the way the wearer moves. One example is Lauren Kovin’s coral kimono dress with double ties: the dress looks superficially simple but has instead a strange power in its long sleeves that seem to protrude and elongate from it like the tentacles of a strange and ethereal marine creature.

Dutch duo Klavers van Engelen already focused on creating striking sleeves in their A/W 08 collection with soft blouses in bright orange characterised by ample and minutely pleated sleeves. The pleated theme also came back in the duo’s Spring/Summer 09 collection, inspired by the curtains in the houses around Amsterdam’s Jordaan area. One of their best creations from the new collections is a white dressing-gown-like coat in a light and silky fabric and with kimono-like sleeves.

Also another Dutch designer, Mattjis van Bergen, played with the sleeve theme in his S/S 09 collection inspired by the myth of Phaeton, an offspring of the sun-god Helios, who, while driving his father’s chariot, almost scorched the Earth and got himself killed in the process. Mattjs symbolised the myth through his use of metallic fabrics, but he combined his sparkling skirts and trousers with matte or see-through tops, blouses and jackets with voluminous sleeves, achieving a glamorously modern, but very wearable look.

Another designer who should be mentioned in connection with the "voluminous sleeve theme" is Rozalb de Mura’s Olah Gyarfas. The label’s S/S 09 menswear collection is characterised by neutral tones and hyperbolic sleeves inspired by traditional costumes and combined with a modern and rather minimalist cut. To create strikingly explosive volumes Gyarfas employed numerous tiny pleats. This technique was also used by the young designer for the label’s womenswear line. A good example is the Rozalb de Mura white dress with puffed up skirt and theatrical sleeves worn by Brazilian Girls’ singer Sabina in the video for the band’s ‘Good Time’. The video gives a better idea of the effects huge sleeves can create on the body and on how they can alter the body movement in an elegant way and Sabina seems to be great model for Gyarfas’ dress. I just can’t wait to see if other designers will explore in future the sleeve theme in even more extravagant ways.