Staying true to your original inspirations can be hard, but it can even be harder trying to prove you can be avant-garde and saleable at the same time. These must have been the dilemmas on Hussein Chalayan's mind while he was working on his Autumn/Winter collection.
Labelled as a conceptual designer by the fashion media worldwide, Chalayan showed with his new collection that he can be wearable, saleable and well, also sexy. 
Inspired by the principles of building engineering, Chalayan created with special hi-tech fabrics what looked like concrete buildings for bodies.
But the designer also managed to inject in his “buildings” a strong sensuality, opting for utra-short and body hugging dresses matched with thigh high waders strapped around the thighs with leather 
suspenders.
The final grey wool dresses that incorporated leather moulded breasts and bottoms in red, green, yellow and nude – produced by Allen Jones for the London-based theatrical costume studio Whitaker Malem – were striking, but so were the ones in light chiffon that featured prints of rock, gravel, images of metal beams and scaffolds and embroideries with wooden and metallic sequins, materials that seemed to be taken from construction sites.
There was a strong play on dichotomies: the materials used in building sites and the light fabrics on which they were printed; the solid leather bustiers and derriers of the moulded outfits against the fragility of the women who wore them; the conceptual part of the collection and the practical one with tailored jackets, leather leggings and oversized tuxedo jackets.
The name of the collection – "Earthbound" – perfectly matched with the theme, but also seemed to be a reference to the fact that, this time, Chalayan kept his inspirations down to earth and opted for less conceptual outfits. Indeed the technological and maybe arty side of the collection stood this time more in the use of technological fabrics and in the foam that the designer employed to create rigid and sculpted silhouettes for his coats, jackets and dresses.
Like Chalayan, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren opted for a simpler catwalk show, with no extravagant moments on sights and maybe fewer showpieces than usual.
Draping and origami-like motifs have appeared on many catwalks recently, but the Dutch design duo decided to reinterpret these themes in a very original and personal way.
Viktor & Rolf focused for this collection on classical statues and on the draped motifs of their ancient costumes. The inspiration at the bottom of the collection was suggested by the statues on the stage and by the entirely white make-up the models wore.
There were no real Grecian or Roman tunics, but the draped motifs of the himation and the chiton, or the draping created by the fibulae on a stola, was reproduced as trompe l'oeil decorations on tops, skirts and dresses.
Coat sleeves appeared to be sculpted, almost bandaged by uninterrupted strips of fabric; diamond shaped motifs added a touch of futurism on skirts and coats creating stylish anachronisms with the main classical inspiration, while curtain-like draperies were experimentally used on jackets, trousers and dresses.
It was interesting to see the draped motifs also applied on the fur details on the woollen dresses as this trick allowed the designer to play with different materials and textures.
The palette was mainly inspired by materials such as marble, stone, putty and concrete, so grey and whites abounded and the effect was striking when the white was used for the bottom part of an outfit, almost turning it into a sort of plinth on which a statue was erected or giving the impression V&R had managed to capture a work-in-progress statue in their design. 
Bags also featured the iconic draped motifs and chunky necklaces included marble-like cameos, while high-heeled bronze or dark gold cut out cothurni completed the outfits.
It was clear that V&R were hinting with this collection at stability. Whether they refer to a personal stability of mind they might have reached or to the financial stability that selling a majority stake in their label to the owner of the Diesel brand might have given them, we will probably never know.
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