In the sea of trash that nowadays we obstinately call fashion, Delpozo by Josep Font continues to represent an oasis of architectural precision and rigorous lines.
As it happened with his Resort 2017 collection, Font picked two main inspirations for this season, moving this time from a painter and a modern artist.
Balenciaga may have been inspired by Francisco de Zurbarán, but Font borrowed his palette from Spanish Impressionist painter Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida.
A painter with a vigorous style, Sorolla was famous for infusing in his art – from his portraits of the royal family to landscapes or works revolving around historical themes to beach scenes with joyful bathers in and around San Sebastian – splashes of sunlight.
Also nicknamed "the painter of light", Sorolla inspired the main collection palette, prompting Font to use a selection of blue (check out the opening silk lamé floral-printed dress and coat in "Sorolla blue"), lilac, pink, orange, green, and white employed for metallic floral jacquard dresses or crisp shirts in which architectural elements reigned supreme.
Tops and jackets were characterized by an arched shoulder line and ample sleeves; pannier-like elements curved to create the shapes of the projecting apses you may find jutting out of cathedrals; trousers were nipped at the waist and created volumes around the hip and thigh.
Though the garments were made with fabrics, the rigid lines Font designed gave the impression they were made with solid materials such as concrete.
At the same time, Font injected in his designs a romantic dose via feminine elements such as petals and calla lilies-like shapes or evoking in his refined silhouettes the solemn configuration of the traditional Korean costume, the Hanbok.
As usual, there were echoes of Balenciaga here and there, especially in the cocooning shapes and volumes and in Font's crisp white shirts and jackets turned into architectural confections.
Sorolla didn't like black and in this collection this somber shade did not appear, but Font gave space to an intense and brilliantly vivid light. The name of the collection – "Luminosity" – but also the iridescent fabrics, layered miniskirts, sheer dresses, cobweb-like crocheted open knits and all the main accessories were borrowed indeed from contemporary South Korean artist Soo Sunny Park's luminous and waving structures and installations.
Art connoisseurs may easily spot in Font's huge blooming chandelier earrings and in his see-through iridescent PVC bags the light interplay seen in Soo Sunny Park's "Unwoven Light" series of Plexiglas abstract sculptures.
Critics may argue this is not ready-to-wear but demi-couture and this is a statement hard to contradict since it is clear that Font's collections are haunted by the ghost of high fashion.
Yet through the construction of his designs, Font shows that there is a clear difference between "garments" and proper "fashion": we have grown accustomed to see the former on the runways of the world, but fashion is something else. Yes, knits with large decorative three-dimensional swirls, voluminous coats and solemn gowns may not be everyday clothes, but then again they give an aura of solemnity to the wearer and somehow transport us to another realm, making us dream. And what's fashion but a dream?
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