Tue 27th September
Frozen. Flowers, suspended in giant cubes of ice sat isolated on the runway, lit up, like portals to another universe. Melting, the water formed small puddles as the sound of rain trickled, splashing, hitting the ground. This could only be the work of Azuma Makoto. He makes magic. So does Dries Van Noten. In another dimension, an inorganic space life is gentle, delicate. Something sinister lurks but there’s a sense of serenity. Here, girls wear veils, netted over their eyes. What are they hiding from? Printed flowers grow amongst dresses as blue stems creep under pollen satin bomber jackets. Like a vase of flowers from a Van Gogh painting, yellow, black and dark rotting colours seep through the collection. It all feels delicate yet there’s a toughness to it. A sense of strength. The collection climaxes, great black embellished chokers cascade over the girls’ necks and chests. Madonna’s ‘Frozen’ rings out. “You only see what your eyes want to see, how can life be what you want it to be. You’re frozen, when your hearts not open.” Maybe Dries’ girls hearts are beginning to bloom like the flowers that sit in ice, locked away, pristine, far from the mess that is human existence.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
