Scene setting: Thom Browne whisked us away to a topsy-turvy world, by way of a twisted schoolhouse (complete with a front garden on the ceiling) that had landed on some poor Thom Browne-clad soul (a pair of legs and shoes were visible unsquashed underneath). Haunting music gave the arrangement of school desks, each primed with notebook and pencil, an even more foreboding quality. And as the procession of schoolgirl/models appeared wearing braided pigtails that stood on end through their Stephen Jones straw boater hats, the fairy-tale gone wrong developed in full swing.
Mood board: Browne's classic suits were emblazoned kimono-style with Japanese motifs such as oversized flowers, cherry blossom branches, willow leaves and even abstracted portraits of geishas, in a myriad of textures and colours. Below-the-knee, box-pleated skirts played up the schoolgirl feel while also resembling samurai armour, and iridescent appliqué and pastel coloured furs infused the pieces with a naive, but elevated vibe.
Best in show: The closing series of looks, which were predominantly realised in stark black and white, possessed an incredibly graphic quality that gave the models' Japanese/Charlie Chaplin make-up a renewed artistic quality. Browne's ability to combine apparently disparate sources of inspirations that somehow make natural sense in his world is something to be truly commended and admired.
INFORMATION
Photography: Umberto Fratini, Jason Lloyd-Evans
-
Chaumet’s new book celebrates its most memorable collaborations with photographers'Chaumet: Photographers’ Gaze' unites jewellery editorials and campaigns captured by major photographers. Co-author Carol Woolton tells us of the ‘addictive' Chaumet archive
-
Postcard from Design Week Lagos 2024Reporting from Nigeria’s capital during Design Week Lagos 2024, our correspondent shares his view from the streets and explores the role of design in economic evolution
-
Meet the 2024 Royal Academy Dorfman Prize winner: Livyj Bereh from UkraineThe 2024 Royal Academy Dorfman Prize winner has been crowned: congratulations to architecture collective Livyj Bereh from Ukraine, praised for its rebuilding efforts during the ongoing war in the country
-
Sarah Moon brings painterly fashion and dark fantasy to Fotografiska New YorkOctogenarian French photographer and filmmaker Sarah Moon shows 30 years of work at Fotografiska New York – spanning fashion and fantasy, mystery and the macabre, it’s dark, painterly and compelling
-
‘In America: A Lexicon of American Fashion' is coming to The MetThe first of a two-part, year-long extravaganza, ‘In America: A Lexicon of American Fashion’ is organised into 12 sections that seek to define the emotional qualities in American style
-
Saint Laurent celebrates 40 years of Memphis GroupMemphis Group's milestone birthday is celebrated with a series of colourful furniture installations across the French maison's concept boutiques
-
‘A place for the eye to pause’: Ulla Johnson unveils New York HQThe Manhattan-born fashion designer opens a warmly-hued style sanctuary, created in collaboration with architect Rafael de Cárdenas
-
Es Devlin-designed time-travelling exhibition opens at The Met’s Costume Institute‘Our aim is to communicate the phenomenon of time as it is expressed through the female form,’ says Devlin of the exhibition she has designed alongside curator Andrew Bolton
-
Why seersucker is integral to Thom Browne’s design DNAThe brand's ‘Seersucker season' S/S 2020 offering celebrates the preppy puckered fabric, which first attracted its founder in his youth
-
Theory A/W 2020 New York Fashion Week Women’s -
Michael Kors A/W 2020 New York Fashion Week Women’s
