By: Allysha Nila
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Maison Martin Margiela, Spring/Summer 2014-2015 Artisanal.
Not quite your typical couture dress, right? |
Haute Couture season is over and before you know it, Fashion Week
has commenced in New York. But I’d like to look back and see what we can all
take away from the shows. One thing that has cemented in my mind is that no
longer should couture simply be regarded as an elite manifestation of craftsmanship.
It is already full of overwhelming designs and ostentatious use of material.
Couture is tiny, on the top of the fashion hierarchy, and mostly pointless to
many people who don’t have any form of fashion interest (and these people in
many cases think more logically than most of the writers reviewing such
Parisian collections).
But there is hope. We have seen strong concepts and personable executions that transcend different groups of people, which is a fundamental element in fashion. Martin Margiela, for example, pioneered the emphasis of garment treatment. To this day, the iconoclastic fashion house pays great detail to the sharing of information about the construction, material and use of the clothing. Designer Hussein Chalayan, whose discipline very much synthesizes the means of art, architecture and technology, now heads the historic Parisian house of Vionnet. Instead of producing top-tier couture pieces, he’s decided to go for demi-couture, which is a more affordable range of couture, to put it simply.
Still, very
few designers have managed to break down the traditions of Haute Couture, and
created a contemporary body of work relevant to today’s world. Many designers
opt to play it safe and create unsustainable pieces by producing elaborate dresses
with exaggerated use of precious stones and exotic skin. Couture will be
responsible for its own peril if it refuses to realize that the art is not
simply about the physical form or the craftsmanship involving the garment.
Remember
that haute couture is the definition of luxury at its height, and I refuse to
think that luxury simply exists within a product. People who can actually afford
couture prefer to relish in experiential extravagance. That’s the whole reason
Bvlgari creates hotels and Gucci have ventured into cars. Couture parallels to
this by the utter service provided for the exclusive customer. In addition to
that, some creative minds have conceived truly unique pieces that justify value
in a dress costing six figures, by simply innovating ideas that are of
immeasurable intrinsic value. This elevates the entire couture experience,
which is why the rich still splendor themselves in ridiculously expensive high
fashion clothing.
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Viktor and Rolf at their comeback presentation, Fall/Winter 2013-2014 Haute Couture
Dutch duo Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren continue to wow minds when it comes to couture shows. After a thirteen-year hiatus, it’s a pleasure to welcome not only two beloved figures at the helm of their craft, but also breathe in fresh air amidst a dying art’s world. With well-executed presentations, forward-thinking ideas and idiosyncratic designs, Viktor and Rolf have made another mark to challenge the state of couture.
Their comeback last
season (Fall 2014) sought inspirations to the East, creating a Japanese Zen
garden using completely black garments, modeled by girls choreographed to
remain still like a stone. The duo, who usually are also on the stage,
carefully positioned the garments to their intended form. This to me, was
always what struck me most about the two of them: their absolute discipline and
respect towards garments. Meaning, it’s indicative of how a Viktor and Rolf
client experiences getting her couture dress.
This time, though, they pride on Western culture and inject new
DNA to ballet. The Spring 2014 collection glorifies the delicateness of the
female form. Modeled by real ballerinas of the Dutch Royal Ballet, we witness a
truly expressive art form in the dance’s elegant and geometric movements. It’s
also slightly painful to see the girls walk down on their toes in tiny, tiny
distances. It almost brings me to tears to see such fragility and simplicity
that we haven’t seen in the runway for some time now.
Femininity has recently been substituted by the favoritism of
typical, pretty girls. When Lottie Moss was scheduled to be ‘the next big
thing’, I automatically dismissed it, she’s just Kate Moss’s pretty sister. But
having that said, of course there’s a lot of nepotism in fashion. All this
reinforces the stereotype fashion seems to be permanently stamped with:
superficiality. So I was delighted not only by the fact that they didn’t cast
models, but have put an entire group of girls dedicated to an art under a
microscope. The clothing has amplified a ballerina’s personalities, something
you really don’t get to see in a performance, where they are beautifully moving
clones. Look at their hair: it’s not typical of a ballet dancer either. Again,
we return to this idea of complete personalization that resonates across Viktor
and Rolf’s entire work.
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| A few looks from the Spring/Summer 2014-2015 Haute Couture collection modeled by the ballerinas |
The ballerinas are also perfect to show the relation of the body,
clothing, and the mind. Closely look at the garments, which stray far away from
the usual elaborate gowns that seem to be a staple to couture collections. The
trompe l’oeil details are beautiful and cheeky. Our sense of touch is tempted
by the sheer fragility of air-thin material — the clothes and the dancers’ hair
move with the slightest of breeze. It’s fair to say that these are a cross of
aerodynamics and aesthetic pleasure. Is it costume? That’s a question I will
not attempt to answer here, for it is almost a parallel discussion from what
I’m trying to point.
It’s about time that people understand that there is a function
element in fashion, as Viktor and Rolf have identified by exploring ballet
costume. There is customization. People actually have needs when it comes to
clothes, and it’s so blurry that it passes as a want. More people should know
that designers actually contribute to the art world, in that respect,
integrating ideas altogether. Fashion is such an interdisciplinary world. This
collection, if anything, to me, has shown that.
Allysha Nila
“Pure opinion” is a manifestation of the
writer’s unrehearsed thoughts. It isn’t a full article or a research paper, but
merely her outlook on some undertones crawling under fashion’s skin. She writes
with her belief that honesty is a sharp blade that pierces mercilessly into the
flesh.
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