Thursday, January 19, 2012

BEAUTY: Clothing--Frankie Morello

Wow.

Frankie Morello at Milano Moda Uomo for Fall-Winter '12-'13...

What a show! With a live performance by Burger Girl, the alter ego of Benjamin Dukhan (French electro-artist and model--you've seen him on the runway for the likes of Yamamoto and Gaultier), the show followed an oblique narrative of the spiritual journey of man. It started with a set of clothes that referenced the mean streets of a city and all that that world entails. Interesting that it seemed to be London streets, with studs, spikes, and black-rimmed eyes from the punks of the 70s, mixed with buttons from the "Pearlies" of the other 70s (the 1870s!).

The mid-point narrative showed a softening of the silhouette and the introduction of color and texture. In fact, it looks like Frankie Morello are doing something that I can't quite wrap my head around. I am not an expert on how fabric is made, but it looks as if many pieces are a sort of hybrid, with a wool suit grafted onto a cable knit. How can this be? Is the wool woven INTO the knit? It looks as if the same thing is done with cotton... but how? Perhaps this is a new technique of fabric-making. But the leather-knit transition really blows my mind. How on earth is that done? Whatever it is, it is fascinating to see two distinctly different fabrics bleed into each other in such an effortless, literally seamless way.

Ethnic patterns--mostly shapes and colors from Central America and India--creeped into the clothing, and the models sported bindis and malas. The final phase of this spiritual journey showed lighter pieces and more skin. While sheer shirts and small sarongs might not be the most practical clothing for a Fall-Winter collection (in the northern hemisphere at least), they were necessary to complete the transcendent trajectory of the show. The final model peeled off his sarong and stood nude, back to the audience. From aggressive armor to innocent and vulnerable nude, from primal to cosmic, from the earthly to the spiritual...

This is performance art, people...





http://www.frankiemorello.it/

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