As some of you may remember, the main bench in one of the rooms of the British Pavilion (curated by Jeremy Deller) at the 55th Venice Art Biennale integrated a crushed car, evoking the work of venerable sculptor John Chamberlain, a master in constructing sculptures using discarded automobile body parts and other assorted industrial detritus.
It is quite easy to be fascinated by crumpled cars: their fractured, bent and folded metal carcasses with melting and blending colours create indeed quite interesting textures.
Fashion-wise there have been a few designers fascinated by the idea of car crashes: Hussein Chalayan's S/S 2009 collection "Inertia" explored the dynamic consequences of speed, while Mary Katrantzou's S/S 12 designs included vibrant prints in bright saturated shades of crushed mechanical parts and crashed Cadillacs inspired by John Chamberlain's arty manipulations of car parts.
The theme can actually be approached from various points of views: while the colours and materials of crashed car parts can be very intriguing, the metaphor they stand for – wreckage and destruction – may lend some stimulating thoughts and ideas. Christopher Kane was indeed inspired by and combined all these aspects in his Spring/Summer 2016 collection.
This year there were a few metaphorical car crashes in Kane's life – from the loss of his mother just before his show last February to the death of Louise Wilson, his mentor – but he found the strength to stand up again from the wreckage and focus on this collection, keeping one motto firmly in mind – creation comes from destruction.
Showcased yesterday during London Fashion Week on the top floor of the Sky Garden, an office building overlooking the Gherkin tower, in an industrial setting that featured neon mirrors, the collection opened with a few spray painted and graffitied designs that seemed directly borrowed from John Chamberlain's ripped, bent, melted and reassembled works.
At times Chamberlain was echoed in the main collection palette with pastel shades bleeding into splatters of bright nuances and then turning into glowing neons; at others his spirit was injected in the slashes inflicted to the designs or in the juxtapositions of shiny and matte materials.
Kane collaged shades of orange, yellow, and lime in his signature fluorescent lace dresses and coats, then inserted plastic pockets or geometrical plastic shapes or details such as cuffs in severe looking uniform-like shirts that may have been borrowed from mental institutions or from the set of a sci-fi film.
Scottish outsider artist Scottie Wilson provided instead a solid reference when it came to designs with waving and sinuous lines, or to the hand-stitched motifs on sweaters and leather coats.
Rather than recreating Wilson's intricate detailed doodlings in which "Greedies" and "Evils" (malignant personifications) were juxtaposed with naturalistic symbols of goodness and truth, and surrounded by botanical forms, birds and animals or clowns (self-portraits of Wilson), Kane opted for abstract embroideries made using loose threads.
While this section of the collection had a stimulating reference, it was maybe slightly detached from the rest of the collection, almost threatening its cohesiveness.
The power of sharp geometries and bright graffiti came back towards the end of the show with long fringes coiling around trousers and appliqued jagged shards of coloured figures (the same technique Kane used in his "Lovers Lace" dresses from the A/W 2015 collection) exploding and splintering into light colourful fringes.
The accessories will definitely be among the absolute winners of this collection: expect to see the colourful bags in see-through plastics, the large clutches shaped like cartoon explosions and multi-coloured crisscross strap sneakers with push-buckle clasps on the hands and feet of many editors and high profile bloggers very soon.
Shame, though, that Kane hasn't thought about making a more affordable line à la Fiorucci, a brand that produced quite resistant (and cheap) see-through plastic bags throughout the '80s. Though desirable, investing in a Kane luxury bag made of transparent PVC may after all be a rather silly idea as plastic tends to break rather easily.
There were other key details in the collection: the multicoloured plastic cable ties (hands up who never used them in a crazy attempt at creating a last minute fashion accessory…) became an important part of each look, turning from a crude and fetishistic element into a fun accessory that also offered a colourful distraction and a welcome contrast to the bleak views of the city covered in rain and mist.
The cable ties held together ponytails, were employed to create chockers (that once again evoked in their shape and colour combination Chamberlain's works) or to decorate bags. At times they were even inserted through grommets and slits to secure, cinch, mould, pleat or fold black jersey dresses.
The cable ties proved that Kane understood pretty well that, quite often, a silly eye-catching detail can linger for a longer time in the mind of people and prove to be even more alluring than expensive pieces (you can bet that if he sold plastic cable ties chokers branded with his name in his shop for £20 they would be sold out in a few hours).
There is also another thing Kane has understood during his years in the business: successful elements (in his case neon lace, rope cord motifs and push-buckle clasps) shouldn't be dropped after six months, but can become signature motifs and keep on appearing on the runway in different colours, materials or styles season after season.
Another point that currently plays in Kane's favour is the fact that he has constantly widened his offer, balancing between elegant dresses with more functional trouser suits and adding a variety of shoe designs that (going from sneakers and flats to high heeled sandals) covers a lot of bases.
That said the collection should come up with a warning: the cable ties that accompanied the designs weren't the ordinary ones you buy at your DIY retailer à la B&Q, but were actually made on purpose. So if you're an enthusiastic fashionista who loves a bit of make do and mend – beware – don't try and get trapped or choke yourself to death with cheap plastic cables, if you don't know how to use them.
PS Plastic will definitely be a protagonist of the next fashion season. Anticipate the trend with New Order's track "Plastic", part of the soon to be released "Music Complete" album (25th September). And if you get really tired of the trend, you will still be able to sing to Kane's fans in love with luxury plastic bags "You're like plastic, you're artificial, you don't mean nothing baby, so superficial…."
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