Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law, Science & Technology

A Vintage Beachwear Cover from 1955 Dedicated to Dog Lovers

There is currently a heatwave all over Europe: those who live near the sea are fighting the scorching temperatures going to the beach, but what if you can't do it? Well, you can still dream about beachwear, maybe leafing through a vintage magazine.

This cover from Italian weekly "Bella" (before it became "Annabella") immediately conjures up the villainous Cruella de Vil from Disney's animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Fear not, though, the cover wasn't inspired by Cruella.

The magazine came out indeed in June 1955 (so it predates the film that was released in 1961 and the novel it was based upon, Dodie Smith's The Hundred and One Dalmatians, published in 1956) and its cover shows a woman in a bathing suit with a spot print, modelling the design with two Dalmatian dogs. The bathing suit was actually white with blue (rather than black...) irregular spots and also the silk draped panel on the front was blue. Unfortunately it wouldn't be the best option for the temperatures we are currently having in Europe since it was made with elasticated wool. Have a lovely Sunday!  

Rainbow Inspirations from the 1920s

This has been a month of celebrations for the LGBT community with marches and events all over the world to mark the 50th anniversary of the uprising at the Stonewall Inn in 1969 that sparked the modern gay rights movement. Celebrations will culminate tomorrow in two large events in New York – the official annual Pride (Heritage of Pride Parade) march with floats and dancers and the Reclaim Pride Coalition event, dubbed Queer Liberation March, a more political rally that will follow the route of the original march for queer rights that evolved from the Stonewall uprising.

Rainbow-coloured clothes and accessories have therefore been rather trendy in the last few weeks, with some companies just jumping on the bandwagon to produce commemorative designs. Yet, if you like rainbows and fashion and would like to be inspired by something a little bit more original for the Pride parade festivities, check out this Paul Poiret gown. Designed in the mid-'20s, the dress with its vivid shades called to mind the colours of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes' costumes, often designed by Léon Bakst.

This short evening dress with a zigzag pattern from the Met Museum archive combined Near and Middle Eastern costume in its details, while referencing a costume designed by Bakst for Nijinsky for his role as the Hindu prince in Diaghilev's "Le festin" (1909) that consisted in a fitted tunic with cap sleeves worn over tight trousers (View this photo).

The gold- lamé plastron-shaped insert at center front was a direct reference to Bakst's drawing; Poiret modified that original costume, though, giving his design a more relaxed silhouette and adding a rainbow-patterned lamé that pointed at Indian textiles and styles and gave his design a glamorously luminous radiance. 

The Destructive Beauty of Viruses: "Malware: Symptoms of Viral Infection" @ The Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam

Every year different exhibitions all over the world celebrate the universe of new technologies developed by researchers and programmers on a constant basis. Yet nobody celebrates computer viruses, after all there isn't much to celebrate about them, considering that the potential damages they can do. 

A new exhibition opening in July at The Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, focuses instead on the the destructive beauty of computer viruses. "Malware: Symptoms of Viral Infection" (from 5th July to 10th November 2019) looks at the history and evolution of the computer virus.

Curated by Bas van de Poel (who conducted a research about viruses in collaboration with the Research department of the Het Nieuwe Instituut) and Marina Otero Verzier, the exhibition starts with relatively innocent DOS viruses - Brain, CoffeeShop and Crash - invented over 30 years ago.

Quite often the early viruses were produced for fun, as a hobby and a joke or for personal reasons by nerds or radical imaginaries. For example, Brain, the first computer virus for MS-DOS, spread around the world through floppy disks, was designed in 1986 by two Pakistani brothers, Basit Farooq Alvi and Amjad Farooq Alvi, to protect their medical software from piracy. 

As the years passed and the Internet developed, viruses spread faster: it is calculated that more than a million viruses have been developed while hundreds of millions devices have been infected.

First there were email worms such as Anna Kournikova (designed in 2001 by 20-year-old Dutch student Jan de Wit, and tricking email users into opening an infected email that seemed to contain a picture of the tennis player Anna Kournikova) and later on ansomware (criminal hostage software that prevents users from accessing their system or personal files and demands ransom payment in order to regain access) such as including PolloCrypt, Kenzero and Cryptolocker.

While Kenzero (2010) publishds the user's browsing history, showing the pornographic sites visited and demanded a payment for removing this list from the internet, the ransomware PolloCrypt (2015) referred to a fictional location in the TV show "Breaking Bad", the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant chain.

From products of sub- and countercultures aiming at disrupting the existing economic and political structures of power, viruses became scarier in the last 15 years and were used as spyware and as a geopolitical weapon by governments.

The Stuxnet, a highly advanced Windows worm that destroyed roughly one-fifth of Iran's nuclear installations, was developed by the US and Israeli governments to sabotage Iran's nuclear programme; the 2017 NotPetya cyberattacks, rumoured to be the result of Russian interference, broke the computers of hospitals, banks and the government in Ukraine, affecting also airports, power companies and ATMs and card payment systems; the Netherlands too has its own Defence Cyber Command that can attack, manipulate or switch off the digital systems of its enemies.

The exhibition includes simulation software, archive material and artistic interpretations (by Tomorrow Bureau and Bas van de Poel) to show this transition from prank to major international cybercrime.

The event points at the cultural impact of malware and raises questions concerning security, cyberwarfare and geopolitics, as viruses have indeed turned into digital weapons, intangible threats that can damage and steal personal information of private individuals, but also destroy the safety of entire countries.

That said, when a computer virus is well-made, it displays sophistication, complexity and beauty, and that's another point of the exhibition. The ultimate aim of this evetn, though, is not contemplating the elegance of malware, but prompting visitors (and in particular the design and tech communities) to think about how we can learn to design security and protect our privacy from malicious hackers and viral infections (consider how the Internet of Things can be used to spread viruses and cyber-attacks...). So don't miss "Malware" if you like the idea of viruses as art, but also as inspiration to create more advanced tools to fight against digital threats.

Supported by Kaspersky, the exhibition opens on 4th July 2019 at 19:00 with a lecture by Jussi Parikka, author of Digital Contagions: A Media Archaeology of Computer Viruses.

Stuxnet, artistic interpretation by Tomorrow Bureau and Bas van de Poel from Het Nieuwe Instituut on Vimeo.

Kim Kardashian & The Kimonogate

It may be a rare occurrence to get an amazing great idea for something creative, think about a film, a novel or a fashion collection, but it isn't certainly that rare to be sidetracked by life, and end up not being able to develop what you had in mind for months or, in some cases, even years.

So it happened that reality TV star Kim Kardashian one day had a bright idea for a Spanx shapewear brand with items in the most disparate skin tones. The market for slimming and smoothing shape enhancing underwear is huge and Kardashian had in mind  shorts, tank tops, and bodysuits among the other designs.

Time passed, though, and in the end it took her 15 years to actually make it happen. She finally did so and shared on Instagram pictures of the garments shot by Vanessa Beecroft on Tuesday.

Yet it wasn't the shoot featuring Kardashian surrounded by models in various skin tones and styles or the contents of the collection (that includes second-skin bodywear from XXS to 4XL in nine shades) that surprised people, but the name of the brand – Kimono. 

The term was supposed to be a play on her name, but the problem is that "kimono" is also a word defining a traditional Japanese garment. "Kimono is my take on shapewear and solutions for women that actually work," the celebrity stated on Instagram. But social media users accused her of cultural appropriation and disrespect (you will find further criticism under the #KimOhNo tag on Twitter).

Kardashian is at present pursuing a legal career and working as a trainee lawyer with two mentoring lawyers (it is possible to get qualification in California and other four US states, apprenticing with a practicing lawyer or judge), so you wonder why she didn't hire an advisor to help her finding a proper and more original name for this brand (its site doesn't offer any explanations about the actual name of the brand). 

Yet there was actually some kind of legal plan behind this debatable choice: Kardashian applied indeed for eleven trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office under her business venture, Kimono Intimates, Inc., including Kimono Body, Kimono Intimates and Kimono World to sell a wide range of products, from lingerie to cosmetics.

The office granted her trademark to the word "kimono" written in a bubble-like font designed by Kim's husband Kanye West (and asked clarification of other trademarks, including Kimono Solutionwear), but it suspended the wordmark application for the word "Kimono" written in a less recognisable and more generic font. In a nutshell, so far she has a trademark on the word "kimono" when it is used in that particular stylized font. 

This means that we can still use the word kimono without fearing to be sued by Kim Kardashian. That said, the choice remains questionable as it showed a will to appropriate a word and a part of a traditional culture and separate it from its original meaning (while in yesterday's post we looked at another form of cultural appropriation...) and, understandably, a lot of consumers didn't seem to like it (at the moment there is also a petition on Change.org to "Say No to Kim Kardashian's 'KIMONO'"). Still, as they say, bad publicity is better than no publicity, and in the growing market of shapewear, Kim definitely managed to get all the attention she desperately wanted. 

Should You Invest in a Fake Activist Designer Wardrobe To Prove You're an Anti-Capitalist?

McDonald's restaurants conjure up different visions, nightmares and fantasies to different people: for some the fast food chain is synonymous with unhealthy food; for others it is a place where it is possible to get an affordable meal, or maybe meet up with friends before or after a gig (and in the '80s in New York it was also a place for raves...).

For Vêtements' Demna Gvasalia, the place stands for childhood memories when the Soviet Union ended and McDonald's restaurants arrived in Georgia, quickly becoming a symbol of capitalism and of a desirable lifestyle. 

Maybe inspired by those memories, Gvasalia decided to showcase the new Vêtements collection in the McDonald's on the Champs-Élysées, Paris' biggest branch.

He then proceeded to present a cast of characters taken from real life: the first one was a police officer in Vêtements' riot gear and huge bomber jacket with exaggerated shoulder pads reminiscent of Fester Addams; he was followed by a McDonald's employee with a name sticker reading "Hello I am capitalism" and a Trump MAGA-like hat with "For Rent" on it (is the "For Rent" moniker referred to the practice of hiring designer clothes or to the pratice of "hiring" people like influencers to advertise clothes?).

Then followed goths in zombie make up, corporate businessmen and motorcycling-inspired gear; the brand's distorted signature prairie dresses and tops and dresses inspired by Margiela's dummy pattern designs; young men in grunge tops, juvenile delinquents in shell suits, shell suits turned into trench-coats with massive shoulders and ravers in satiric logo T-shirts. 

For this collection PlayStation turned into PayStation, the Bose speakers logo turned into the German word "böse" (meaning evil, bad or angry), the World Economic Forum logo turned into "Global Mind Fuck" and Internet Explorer became "Ecstasy" (the logo has actually been used in the past for ecstasy pills...). But the list is long and also features a fake Bacardi logo on a stonewashed denim jumpsuit, not to mention a series of bizarre meshed up cartoon characters on the pink trousers matched with the Planet Hollymood logo.   

Now this was supposed to be ironic, disruptive, innovative and rebellious, as proved by the manifesto scribbled on the paper napkins scattered on the floor, reading "Police uniform, kapitalism, clothes 4 rent, global mind fuck, new old goth, böse, fashion forever," but somehow it didn't make you laugh at all and it was hard to see the innovation behind the bootlegged shirts, the sort of items you can easily find on alternative market stalls and online.  

Besides, the police officers (dressed in a uniform inspired by Russian police) brought to mind French anti-government gilets jaunes protests (this McDonald's branch was targeted by the gilets jaunes protestors) and probably conjured up in the mind of Italians nightmarish visions of Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini engaged in a perennial uniform cosplay.

There was nothing to ponder about these clothes, they are there to be loved or hated (mind you, the orange prison jumpsuit may be a good investment as that could be used for an "Orange is the New Black" cosplay and, despite being bright orange, could even pass for a "Casa de Papel" costume under the proper lights and with a decent mask...), but the supposed satire behind them is getting lost as you realise the collection fuels that same capitalism it criticises and repackages as luxury that same populism it laughs about.

There was a specific item on this runway that confirmed these doubts - a T-shirt with the words "Don't Shoot" in Arabic, English and French, that has caused some debates on social media in the last few days. 

This is not an original design but a derivation of the T-shirt worn by journalists in Lebanon during the 1982 Israeli invasion.

Now the point is - did Gvasalia saw the original version of this T-shirt or did he recreate the same T-shirt relaunched a while back by London-based Emirati designer Khalid Qasimi for his AW17 collection?

The doubt remains, while Vogue Arabia accused Vêtements of "instigating regional upset" and Qasimi told the fashion magazine "It's about consumerism. But it's a complete F-U to the region as well. I used that print to highlight the plight of something going on in the Middle East. For Vetements to use it in such a flippant and provocative manner; I don't think they realize what these words mean to us Arabs."

Social media users highlighted Gvasalia was using war for a fashion piece: Paris-based Palestinian-Lebanese style blogger and former political journalist Samar Seraqui de Buttafoco stated Gvasalia has the right to be interested in the history of the Middle East and raise attention to is, but this is "fake activism to sell more (...) This is more serious than #culturalappropriation, this is business activism for DUMMIES. Hope you will act like a responsible consumers Hope some fashion editors will dedicate time to think and report. Hope to more respectability in the fashion industry."

Mind you, there could be a third (and even worse) explanation to this mess: Gvasalia may have just seen the T-shirt on ebay or Aliexpress and may have copied it (you can easily find it for less than $14,00 online), after all he loves a bootlegged T-shirt that can sell at hundreds of dollars (remember the brand's DHL T-shirt?).

Where do we go from here? The next logical step would be a runway show in an Amazon warehouse among exploited workers (this is a joke, not a suggestion to Gvasalia), but if things do not change at Vêtements, Gvasalia may reveal himself for what he is - definitely not a genius, but a prankster mistakenly taken for a genius.

For the S/S 2020 Season, a Thayaht Mood

Towards the end of a season's runways you usually start getting more precise ideas about specific trends and inspirations. As the menswear shows closed on Sunday it became clear that Italian painter and sculptor Ernesto Michahelles, better known as Thayaht is one of the inspirations for the S/S 20 season. 

The latter designed the "tuta", T-shaped overalls with a belted waist and, in the early '20s Thayaht started working for Madeleine Vionnet, producing gowns with precise geometric cuts that followed the principles of Cubism. Thayaht's comes back in fashion every now and then and, quite often, he is unacknowledged.

We saw vague Thayaht's references in Bode's overalls and sandals, and there were hints at Thayaht's moods also on Kenzo's S/S 20 runway, in particular in the denim dungarees, reminiscent of the "tuta", and in the sandals in bright colours that called to mind the shape of sandals Thayaht designed for a magazine to explain the 1929 Summer trends (see picture eight in this post).

The collection that seemed to evoke the most Thayaht's moods was Lanvin's. The show took place in Lucien Pollet's 1933 indoor swimming pool, and the opening looks featured wave-like relief motifs along the sleeves and legs. 

They called to mind Thayaht's drawings for Vionnet, showing a woman standing in a long dress with a wave pattern or swimming, surrounded by a swirling wave, and were accessorised by leather sandals that found echoes in Thayaht's. 

A delicate hand-painted pattern in violet, pink and green painted by Thayaht in the '20s seemed to be evoked instead in the stylised floral pattern on a violet red and pink jacket matched with a green and aqua green top.   

The collection also included versatile knitwear pieces for both men and women in bright and bold blue and yellow shades, their silhouettes hinting at Thayaht's moods and the colourful geometries of the beach toga, but also the colours of his brother RAM (Ruggero Alfredo Michahelles)'s paintings "Île de Cythère" (1933) and "Two women and one figure turned back" (1934). 

Further pieces included leather sailor collars, khaki suits and skirts, paisely prints (that may have been avoided since they didn't add much to the collection, but actually broke its geometry); light canvas suits, ample tunic-like hoodies, designs covered in nautical flags and an azure duffle coat that conjured up crystalline waters and endless summers. 

There was also a strong playful component (probably derived from Creative Director Bruno Sialelli's time at Loewe) represented by the tops and bags featuring Jean de Brunhoff's Babar the Elephant (a character created in the early '30s, so in Thayaht's time) swimming, enjoying the beach or encountering a whale, themes that represented the freedom of childhood and the joy of having no responsibilities.

The references to Thayaht weren't probably conscious as Bruno Sialelli was thinking more about utopian summer holidays, adventures, travelling and escapism. In a way this collection was maybe more wearable and slighly less bohemian compared to Loewe's, but, hopefully, Sialelli will leave his past at Loewe behind and find more intriguing arty inspirations for the next seasons. 

Operatic and Transformative Gender Journeys: Comme des Garçons Homme Plus S/S 20

The Vienna State Opera first released news about Olga Neuwirth's opera "Orlando" in 2015. Scheduled for December 2019, the opera is going to be based on Virginia Woolf's eponymous novel, her first big literary success, revolving around gender identity, love and artistic creativity. The work is supposed to be a bit of a landmark, since Neuwirth is the first woman composer to be commissioned by the Vienna State Opera in 150 years.

"The essence of this fictional biography is the love for oddities, the supernatural, deceit, virtuosity, exaltation and exaggeration. It's also about remembrance, about a sophisticated form of sexual allure and against the restrain toward a single gender," stated Neuwirth in a press release that came out when it was first announced she was going to compose the opera for the Wiener Staatsoper. 

Neuwirth's description of "Orlando" could have been used to describe Rei Kawakubo's Comme des Garçons Homme Plus collection.

Showcased last Friday in Paris during the menswear shows, the collection moved from Virginia Woolf's" Orlando" and retained a strong connection with Neuwirth's work for the Vienna State Opera as Kawakubo is currently working on the costumes for this piece.

In the collection Kawakubo questioned the roles of man and woman while also tackling the themes of transformation and travelling through tailoring. "Transformation and liberation through time," was indeed the designer's tag-line for this collection. 

The designer progressed scene by scene: all her models donned a Woolf-like waved hairstyle and CdG branded pearl necklaces with T-shirts decorated with oversized brightly coloured jewellery with large gemstones.

Jackets and coats were the most important pieces of the collection, the designs in which Kawakubo experimented the most with style and tailoring from all sorts of times. There were indeed ruffles and frock coats; corseted coats with tails and voluminous puffed sleeves juxtaposed to rigorous military styles.

Some of the textiles incorporated glittery motifs; others verged towards the futuristic with digital prints of modern characters that may have been borrowed from a sci-fi film set in a dystopic metropolis, and then there were toile de jouy patterns with a Cologne cityscape from 1531. 

The map of Colonia was taken from a woodcut by Anton Woensam von Worms, which shows the late medieval Cologne in detail in large format.

Various saints float in the clouds, such as Agrippa and Marsilius, each with one of the two coat of arms, while angels hold a ribbon with the inscription "Colonia" and the map features the title "O felix agrippina nobilis romanorum Colonia" (Oh Happy Agrippina of the noble Roman Colonia View this photo).  

There was no transgression in this collection because this is after all Kawakubo's style, but there was a journey from one gender to the other that reflected Virginia Woolf’s story of a man who turns into a woman while moving through the centuries. 

As the tailored thick grey designs turned into bright florals on a black background, the transformation - or rather the evolution - of the man into a woman was accomplished.

Yet, despite all these elements, and despite Kawakubo being focused on opera at the moment, there was nothing costumy on the runway and you could have easily imagined the coats, jackets, skirts, pinafores, petticoats and culottes being adopted by a consumer with a free-minded approach keen on breaking social and gender boundaries and rebelling to rigid rules and norms.

So what will be the result of the Virginia Woolf, Olga Neuwirth and Rei Kawakubo equation? Too early to say, but this was a general rehearsal, almost an anticipation of the things to come and was considered by Kawakubo as her "Act I".

The womenswear show will be "Act II" and the Vienna premiere in December 2019 will be "Act III". So we will have to stay tuned to see how it ends; in the meantime, it looks like the time has come for fashionistas to become well-versed in the wonderful world of opera.

Could Biocomposites Be Among The Solutions to Reduce Textile Waste?

We do know from reports that one of the top positions in the chart of the most polluting materials is occupied by textile waste: it has for example been been calculated that each year textile waste amounts to 210.000 kiloton only in The Netherlands, the equivalent of 350.000.000 pairs of jeans.

Trying to find a solution to deal with textile waste, while also studying new strategies for the government plans stating that all new-build homes must be built energy-neutral by 2020 and that by 2050 all construction in The Netherlands must be circular (as stated in the 2018 Transition Agenda for a Circular Building Economy document), Studio Samira Boon, i.c.w. the research programme Urban Technology of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (UvA) and NEXT architects came together last year with a unique project to develop BiOrigami, a new composite.

This winning research project (it was awarded a Knowledge and Innovation Mapping grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) investigates how biocomposite materials can become functional, sensory and flexible architectural products. 

The material resulted from this research is composed of a bio-based plastic and textile waste derived from old jute bags and jeans, so this can be defined as a circular biocomposite.

Manufacturing is developed witth state-of-the-art parametric design and digital production techniques, but the structure is based on Japanese origami, a field in which Studio Samira Boon is specialised, having employed origami techniques for textile 3D construction for years.

Origami techniques add important properties to the flat biocomposite, including bearing capacity, flexibility and acoustics, but also patterns of soft bending lines and hard surfaces on a flat material.

Prototypes made with this material are part of an exhibition about textiles and design organised during We Make The City in Amsterdam. The festival is on until today, but let's hope the team behind this material will keep on experimenting in this field and maybe prompt researchers in other countries to work on further biocomposites that may help us reducing textile waste.

Phosphorescent Footprints That Will Make You Think: Daan Roosegaarde's "Presence" @ The Groninger Museum, Groningen

In the last few posts we looked at sustainable fashion and at the possibility of reducing our environmental footprint. Yet, while some of us (hopefully most of us…) are sensitive to environmental concerns, others still need to become more aware about the current global emergency.

To this end the Groninger Museum, in Groningen, The Netherlands, has just launched an exhibition by artist Daan Roosegaarde that tries to raise awareness about the impact of the human presence on our planet in a very engaging way.

Curated by Mark Wilson and Sue-an van der Zijpp, "Presence" (opening today and on until Janury 2020), is inspired by the ecological footprint and by climate change, and comprises a series of spaces in which visitors are invited to leave their traces.

Roosegaarde is into social design, art and (bio-)technology and defines his work as "techno-poetry", a blend of technology and creativity that blurs the boundaries between the humanities and the sciences, two fields that allow him to work with a team of designers, engineers and project managers. New materials and the principles of physics are indeed the secrets behind "Presence".

Moving from 1960s and 1970s landscape and environmental art by Michael Heizer, Walter De Maria and Robert Smithson, a type of art that turns spectators into participants, and fascinated by natural phenomena such as luminous jellyfish and fireflies, Roosegaarde created various large-scale luminous sets and settings that change colour and shape in the presence of visitors.

The exhibition revolutionizes the conventional idea of museums since it doesn't demand to visitors to view art from a distance and abide to the strict rule saying "Please do not touch", but encourages physical interaction and immersion in a sort of living lab-like environment in which the possibilities are always new and unexpected. Indeed, without the physical interaction of the visitors the exhibition wouldn't have any point.  

Visitors pass through these futuristic dream landscapes characterized by a vaporwave aesthetic, they walk through phosphorescent pebble-like floors, stare at a luminous stardust sprinkled in another room and play with large spheres, or record their presence on walls and floors, drawing physical representations of their bodies or creating abstract patterns, in a minimalist environment filled with basic geometrical shapes that stimulates the body and the brain. 

There are connections between this environment and art or architecture: grid patterns point at Mondrian and the austere layout of the Dutch landscape; a  space contains spherical objects similar to a luminous stardust but also reminiscent of a pointillist panorama.

The so-called Lolas, little jellyfish-like transparent spheres draw phosphorescent lines that call to mind cave drawings, graffiti or perhaps the secret writing of artist Cy Twombly. A completely empty room points instead at the minimalism of light artist James Turrell, but with a twist - it is indeed the room that takes pictures of the visitors rather than the other way around.

It is somehow irresistible not to engage with the materials in the rooms and people are encouraged to experiment and interact with the things they see, moving around, touching and feeling.

"You make the work and the work makes you," Roosegaarde states in a press release, "The effect of your presence makes you aware of your relationship with the environment and how we can influence it."

Yet the moment visitors engage with the materials, they also become affected by them, become more aware of their own presence, and start pondering about their existence and impact. And right when they start thinking about their impact their image starts disappearing. Perspectives therefore shift and mutate pretty quickly, prompting visitors to think about the shortness of life and the conditions in which we are going to leave our planet.

This is the first time that Roosegaarde, known for international projects like "Smog Free Tower" (2015), which purifies polluted air, or "Windvogel" (2017), which generates green energy, has explored interior space on this scale.

Daan Roosegaarde states about the project: "I wanted to create an intimacy, a kind of stillness within the walls of the museum. Presence is an exhibition that allows adults to briefly be children again, and at the same time it carries an important social message. It affects you." 

You can bet Roosegaarde will soon be coopted by the fashion world to create some unique sets for runways, but, until then, you should enjoy this hybrid show that, while being entertaining, pushes visitors to ponder about what Marshall McLuhan said, "There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew".     

Daan Roosegaarde - Presence Experience this interactive and luminous work of art yourself from Groninger Museum on Vimeo.

Image credits for this post

"Presence", Groninger Museum. Courtesy of Studio Roosegaarde. Images 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13 by Pim Hendriksen; images 2, 5, 6, 10 and 11 by Peter Tahl and image 7 by Sije Kingma

Waste Not: Discarded Plastic as Fashion Props (Marni Men's S/S 20 Vs Tadashi Kawamata's "Over Flow")

It is not rare for fashion designers to take inspiration for a collection from events in the news. The plastic waste crisis is sadly a relevant theme, especially as we are realising plastic is not being recycled properly, but it is often shipped to developing nations, with dire consequences for the health of people and of the planet, while microplastics (plastic debris less than 5mm across) are common from the surface to the seafloor and may also be entering marine food webs in the deep ocean.

Plastic wasn't actually the main theme of Marni's menswear collection, showcased last week in Milan. Creative Director Francesco Risso moved indeed from a rather bizarre combination, an imaginary wedding between Truman Capote (as portrayed in a photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson View this photo) and Ernesto "Che" Guevara (in the iconic "Guerrillero Heroico" photograph by Alberto Díaz Gutiérrez, better known as Alberto Korda View this photo), but the set in Marni's industrial headquarters was directly inspired by the plastic waste crisis.

Plastic bottles and other assorted green, white and blue plastic relics (collected by the Italian fashion house team from industrial sources and the seaside) were suspended from the ceiling. The effect looked a bit like a representation of the Pacific Garbage Patch attached to the ceiling rather than floating.

The plastic set was also directly connected to a monumental installation by Paris-based Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata that was on display until April in the Oval Gallery of Lisbon's Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT). As you may remember from a previous post, the installation consisted in a pile of plastic residues collected on Portugal's shores during beach cleaning campaigns.

A net suspended from the ceiling was filled with all sorts of ocean debris, from plastic bottles to polystyrene boxes, while two boats were abandoned on the floor of the main museum gallery, giving the impression they were submerged by this wave of trash. Visitors stepping into the gallery were confronted therefore by the aftermath of an ecological catastrophe, a seascape of waste, floating and engulfing civilisation.

The effect on Marni's runway was more or less the same, with fashionistas being required to stand rather than sit under the makeshift roof of plastic debris, a physical representation of the weight of plastic on our planet and our lives. 

The clothes were suspended between elegant tailoring (see the three-piece suits) and camouflage functionality (see the army jackets and military jumpsuits for that jungle guerrilla twist): Risso imagined Capote abandoning high society to embrace radicalism and this dichotomic theme gave origin to the hybrid garments in this collection, designs that could be adapted for both men and women, as seen on the runway. The arty element in the collection was represented by the carnival of colours and graphics inspired by the Fauve painters. 

The tropical theme provided wearable results when merged with camo patterns (the tailored garments with cut-out fabrics replicating the effects of camo netting and camo net blinds worked particularly well as the cut-out motifs looked like romantic flowers). Some of the models also donned bizarre totemic party hats made by the artist Shalva Nikvashvili stapling together (actually that's not a very sustainable technique...) discarded paper, feathers, plastic, fur and leather (there were also large stapled paper and leather bags). 

Accessories also hinted at the state of our planet: Japanese artist Kazuma Nagai made brooches representing hybridic animals including the extinct dodo bird wearing a gas mask as if it had to face a nuclear emergency (a hint at Johan Renck's series "Chernobyl"?). 

There was a final message behind the runway: the show was called Act 1 and tried to reshift the fashion discourse onto more sustainable practices; in Act 2, coming with the S/S 20 womenswear shows, artist Judith Hopf will use the plastic that was employed on this set to create a new artwork.

You wonder if it wouldn't be a better idea to use it to make jewellery pieces, after all Marni's statement accessories are mainly made with plastic, so this would add a sustainable twist to the brand's signature necklaces and bring some genuine changes. And while the show wasn't maybe a call to action, it made you think: fashion can't be 100% sustainable (would the fashion crowd ever accept to reduce their carbon footprints by choosing not to fly from one fashion capital to the next to see different collections?), but things can be still reversed if we act quickly.