it doesn't take a stint at a textile museum (textile museum of canada in the case of yours truly) to appreciate the narrative potentiality of a fashion. simply, every garment tells a story.
one of my favourite pieces this summer hails from dries van noten's spring 2012 collection in paris. it's everything that i desire in a dress: functional, sharply cut and, this season, with vibrant hues. i've always aspired to be a driesian: quirky, cerebral yet seductive. the antwerp six, which comprises dries van noten, ann demeulemeester and others, is renowned for their avant garde aesthetic, made possible by their masterful cuts.
dries, in my opinion, is a man of illusion. he creates silhouettes that harken back to the days of cristóbal balenciaga -- at the height of spanish haute couture in the 1950s. and what better illusion than the illusion of grandeur of haute couture?
yet, his dresses are distinctly modern. his spring 2012 collection was peppered with abstract prints, which were created by james reeve, a young british photographer whom dries van noten met years ago. their collaboration grounds dries' old world glamour in something other worldly, which is paradoxically presented in a tangible, visceral way: among other things, dries adds real stones on one skirt to bring to life -- literally -- the reflective lights on reeve's image of marseille at night.
(photos courtesy of style.com.)
