Mary Katrantzou S/S 11, after Magritte
Every fashion season, legions of editors and aesthetes converge online and at the shows to witness the turning of the fashion tides. Admittedly, the returns on this investment of time can be less than thrilling on occasion: Shocking! Last season it was the 50s, now it’s the 70s! Would you just look at all those wide-legged trousers! or Goodness me, can you believe the amount of orange around here? or Who would ever have thought of doing a romper in leopard print? Absolutely groundbreaking!
But then there are those moments that make it all worth it, those truly jaw-dropping collections that reveal an unexpected perspective, an astonishing beauty, or an outlandish wit. Mary Katrantzou’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection, entitled Ceci n’est pas un chambre, offered just that solace in London recently. Her deft transformation of women into exquisitely decorated interiors a la Architectural Digest was unquestionably surreal. The models wore poolside decks, country estate breakfast nooks, and dinner tables overlooking city lights, all impeccably detailed and tailored. The pieces included such elements as printed drapes and table runners that gave way into actual flowing fabric; lampshade-esque rose-printed skirts, and bits of chandelier as necklaces. The effect was jarring upon first view, as there was no readily available point of reference to which to connect it. It was truly odd, and truly exciting.
The Treachery of Images, René Magritte, 1928-29
The title of her collection, of course, references the famous René Magritte painting The Treachery of Images (often called Ceci n’est pas un pipe) and the connection to the great Belgian surrealist artist is tangible. Magritte purported to create his art for the purpose of challenging viewer’s perceptions of reality and normalcy, and by so doing to elevate the experience of daily life through deep awareness. Like Magritte, Katrantzou’s work is clean and streamlined, with nothing to distract from the central, paradoxical messages of her collection: Yes, this is a room. No, this is not a room. Yes, this is a dress. No, this is not a dress. Yes, this is a body. No, this is not a body. This humorous philosophical exercise in suspension of disbelief was made possible by the hyperreality of the prints and the precise, clean lines of the collection.
This wasn’t Katrantzou’s first foray into trompe l’oeil imagery on clothing. Since her runway debut in London just a two years ago, she has focused on utilizing utterly realistic, mind-bending digital printing to achieve her fantastic effects. London has become a mecca for such revolutionary technologies, with Basso & Brooke and Alexander McQueen utilizing similar techniques. Her collections for these past four seasons have turned the models into exquisitely detailed perfume bottles, blown glass, jewels, and this season, windows glinting in the sunlight. In each of her collections, Katrantzou seems to be at her best when she captures the reflective quality of shiny surfaces in her prints, creating a sharp concentration of light. Perhaps in that pooled light we can best allow our perceptions of reality to be disrupted and reprogrammed.
This past Friday, Katrantzou won the Swiss Textiles Award, which will provide her with 100,000 euros to continue building her brand and developing her splendid vision. From that stamp of approval, it’s fair to say that a good number of people are more than willing to cast aside their previous perceptions of reality in favor of those that this amazing young designer brings to the table.
“Here are letters, all yours (already on the folds
their traces of jerky pencil are fading). By day,
folded up, they sleep, amid dry flowers, in my
fragrant drawer, but at night they fly out,
semitransparent and weak, they glide
and flutter over me, like butterflies: one
I may catch in my fingers, and at the night blue
I look through it, and in it the stars shine through.”
-Vladimir Nabokov, 1923
Translated from the Russian by Brian Boyd and Dmitri Nabokov
Harness and brooch, Lanvin. Dress, John Galliano.
A flutter of butterflies burst in from the furthest reaches of the globe to alight on the Spring/Summer 2011 runways, dusting us with the transformative magic for which these creatures are famous.
In New York, we saw L.A.M.B., Rodarte, Lyn Devon and Carlos Miele float them down the runway; in London, it was Aminaka Wilmont and Bora Aksu; in Milan, Sportmax, Iceberg and Blumarine; and in Paris, Loewe, Tsumori Chisato, Lanvin, John Galliano, and Alexander McQueen all presented pieces that had been brushed by the butterfly wing.
Eternally emerging bright and flawless from the chrysalis, butterflies are the quintessential metaphor for miraculous renewal, a sprightly visual symbol of spring. Yet their fragile beauty hints also at mortality–a fitting motif for the autumnal celebration of the dead, Dia de los Muertos, or All Souls Day.
Artists such as Philippe Pasqua and Damien Hirst have consistently demonstrated a dual fascination with butterflies and human skull imagery, often superimposing the two in their artwork in various ways. Hirst’s much-hyped new exhibition in London, entitled The Souls and described on Dazed Digital, consists of 120 vibrant prints of the creatures. This follows Hirst’s previous skull-filled exhibition, The Dead. Hirst said while discussing his most recent subject matter, “I love butterflies because when they’re dead they look alive.” Likewise, when they are in the coffin-like confines of their chrysalis, they are alive but look dead. It is this duality that brings power to the winged insect and elevates it from a girly, saccharine spring trend to a powerful emblem evoking the fine line between life and death.
Dresses and shoes, Alexander McQueen. Tights, Bora Aksu.
Sarah Burton brought the butterflies into her first ready-to-wear show since she took the reigns at Alexander McQueen following Lee McQueen’s death in February. Like Pasqua and Hirst, McQueen adopted both the skull and the butterfly as symbols of his brand. For S/S 2008, McQueen, with milliner Philip Treacy, developed a butterfly-filled collection to honor the recent passing of their mentor Isabella Blow. Burton took this opportunity, two years later, to honor the life and death of her own mentor, again utilizing the world-bridging butterfly to do so. The pieces she created for the collection gave a passing nod to the darker side, but emerged triumphantly joyful and full of life. Her vibrant success this season bodes well for the future of this important house.
Another insightful collection for Spring 2011 was that of Aminaka Wilmont. Their moody and magical show featured breathtakingly detailed hand-cut butterflies perched en masse upon shoes, blouses, and dresses. The show was entitled “Psyche,” a reference to the mythological Greek lover of Eros, who was widely regarded as the personification of the human soul. Portrayed in ancient mosaics with butterfly wings, her name literally means spirit, breath, life or animating force. In the ancient story of love, loss, and pilgrimage to the Underworld, Psyche’s path to her destiny is paved with formidable challenges and racked with human error. Her numerous, regrettable follies make her journey impossible, and yet she continues to rise up again, a spirited butterfly that looks mortality in the eye and flutters on regardless.
