Interiorising Fashion Design: Mary Katrantzou S/S 11

I shouldn’t really be complaining if, after hoping to see some kind of collaboration between the world of interior design and fashion, somebody eventually decides to experiment a bit and tries to merge the two fields.

While working on her Spring/Summer 2011 collection, designer Mary Katrantzou must have been leafing through entire collections of Elle Décor, Vogue Decoration and House & Garden, with the occasional issue of Architectural Digest and World of Interiors thrown in.

Her S/S 11 designs in her trademark hyper-real colours featured indeed digitalised views of sleek and modern living rooms and balconies and windows opening on blue skies, gardens, swimming pools and views of cities by night.

Each design seemed to have a very special, almost 3-D depth with a few images creating quite clever experiments in perspective.

There was also something slightly surreal about the dresses: some of them featured chiffon curtains hanging around the hips from concertina-pleated pelmets or fringe curtains hanging around the front of the dress that, moving as the models sashayed down the runway, gave the impression that a gust of wind had entered in the imaginary rooms printed on the dresses.

In some cases pelmets were turned into epaulettes that framed a print of a window, while rows of colourful Swarovski crystals were used to decorate some of the details.

Interior design also characterised some of the materials employed: there were indeed shorts and skirt suits in a fabric reminiscent of Vienna straw, a material traditionally used for chairs. Accessories weren’t spared the interior design treatment and they included oversized chandelier and candelabra necklaces.

The collection, that also featured lampshade-shaped skirts that will hopefully remain in the realm of the showpiece, probably borrowed some of its optical illusions from René Magritte's works.

As a whole the designs looked beautiful, but, if analysed in depth, the collection shows once again there is a problem with many young designers out there: they often tend to take one inspiration and safely stick to it throughout their collections, often repeating themselves. 

Katrantzou mainly limited herself to the most blissfully elegant spaces she spotted in the best interior magazines, that is living rooms (anybody up for a print of a messy kid’s room or a wardrobe full of clothes? Not so stylish, you say?), probably finding their perspectives easier to adapt to her silhouettes, the main reason why there were no trouser suits on the runway.  

Surely the designer has a great imagination and also knows how to use colours in a strikingly original way.

Yet it's undeniable that Katrantzou's vision of over-the-top interior design glamour was at times as immaculately chic, polished and cold like those clinically spotless houses belonging to the rich, affluent and wealthy that you see on the pages of many interior décor magazines. 

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Comments

[Design Jobs]

I watch these photos. Its looking awesome and gorgeous to be in fashion ramp. I always see the fashion tv. Most of the model are great on the ramp. I have seen also some funny model who has been back down from the ramp.