#a.f.vandevorst

Designers An Vandevorst and Filip Arickx partnered with filmmaker Dirk Braeckman to create the evocative six-minute video that played at the beginning of their show. In it, the choreographer Lisbeth Gruwez channeled some sort of wild creature, or at least a possessed woman, writhing on the cement floor of a warehouse and struggling down a ladder, her face completely obscured by the long bangs of an enormous wig. The models wore the same hairpieces when they stepped off the tableau vivant that was exposed when the video scrim dropped. According to Vandevorst, the clothes themselves told a different story than the film, one based on the novel The Time in Between by María Dueñas, of a couturiere turned spy in 1930s Spain and Morocco.

When Filip Arickx and An Vandevorst played to their strengths—delicate lingerie, smart tailoring, soft fabrics contrasted with stiff ones—their fall collection was great. They got off to a fine start with a camel group: a wrap coat, a full skirt, a backless fur gilet, and cozy cable sweaters that looked just right on the ice (the show was presented on a skating rink).

Where the A.F. Vandevorst designers stumbled was in the middle. It’s hard to picture their customer, a romantic tomboy of Belgian extraction, going for garish patterns or having much need for to-the-floor frocks. So a series of seventies-era tapestry prints was something of a misstep, especially one long halter dress suspended by a strand of faux pearls. The look worked somewhat better later in the presentation in black, but it didn't have the swing of a jet silk cocktail dress with lace at the neckline and hem, or a gray wrap skirt fastened with an oversize safety pin and worn with a simple black crew neck.

Many of the pieces were accessorized with furry boots and Mickey Mouse ears. The former looked spunky, but the latter seemed little more than a silly distraction.