In the last two posts we have seen some strong correspondences between fashion and art. There were no direct links with any particular artists in Mary Katrantzou's S/S 16 collection, but the effects created by the accumulations of micro flower prints, tiny sequins, embroideries and crystals applied to different layers of fabrics, called to mind Yayoi Kusama's mesmerising infinity net patterns.
Yet the final effect of an infinite and layered starry starry night on fabric - a technique that proved the designer has abandoned for the time being her trademark eye-catching and visually striking digitally printed images to refocus on craft and folklore - was actually borrowed from the engraving (by an unknown artist) that first appeared in Camille Flammarion's 1888 book L'atmosphère: météorologie populaire ("The Atmosphere: Popular Meteorology").
This work of rather confused historical origins - a metaphorical illustration representing the scientific or the mystical quest for knowledge - features a man in a long robe, kneeling and passing through a gap between the star-studded sky and the earth, a marvellous gate where the two worlds met and a realm of circling clouds, fires and suns (reproduced in the collection via sequins, embroideries and lace) beyond the heavens.
The Flammarion inspiration was combined with another theme, the folkloric costumes (including also wedding dresses) from the Balkans, Romania, Hungary, and the east, filtered through the magic realist mood borrowed from Time of the Gypsies, the 1988 movie directed by Emir Kusturica.
Colours and densely intricate patterns and decorations became particularly relevant in this collection and the flat yet multi-dimensional engraving gave the designer the chance to play with layers and match a mini-dress with a knitted Lurex bodysuit. Stars were also evoked via iridescent quilting and metallic brocades.
As the runway progressed, further additions appeared on it, including mini-dresses and skirts characterised by side fin-like ruffles (a trend that is scaredly spreading fast and that will look unflattering and - let's admit it - slightly ridiculous on most grown up women), black skirts and two fitted coats (one sleeveless; were they references to menswear jackets or by the looks of the Romani man with magical powers in Kusturica's film?).
They say that imitation spawns innovation and Katrantzou's process of remixing all these themes together resulted in a new hybrid cosmopolitan costume (albeit derived from folk and '70s peasant dresses) for bohemians who love luxury, while managing to offer an intricately embroidered wardrobe of light, soft and weightless pieces. Yet Katrantzou's offer remains limited to pretty dresses and to one main dress silhouette.
Choosing craft over digital wasn't a bad idea, but the Balkan inspiration made you also think: mass migrations are on the daily news and refugees from Syria are continuing to arrive from several routes, travelling through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and other Eastern European countries, and that's definitely not magic realism, but a question of gritty reality.
Should fashion be political? Well, Katrantzou is certainly not as vocal as Vivienne Westwood (who is against climate changes and pollution but still keeps on producing clothes, despite the fact that fashion is a highly polluting industry...), but at the shows seen so far in New York and London, most designers proved that fashion is superficially stargazing and pretending that everything is fine.
In Flammarion's Les mondes imaginaires et les mondes réels ("Imaginary Worlds and Real Worlds," 1864), the author cites a legend (linked to the 1888 engraving that inspired this collection) about three monks who wished to discover the point where the sky and the earth touched.
Maybe the industry will improve when and if we discover a meeting point where the spectacle can incorporate the reality in more radical ways. Fashion represents fantasy and the dream, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if we started thinking about a global and fair dream for everybody and stopped conceiving fashion as an elitist heaven, using it also to convey higher messages. Guess that would be really innovative.
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