BEAUTY: Clothing--Ann Demeulemeester

When Ann Demeulemeester (previously here) left her own house in 2013, the question was would her sartorial vision continue? Luckily, her successor, creative director Sébastien Meunier has kept the DNA of the house pretty much intact. No surprise there since he had designed the men's collection under Demeulemeester since 2010. And he has kept the original vision alive in wonderfully sweeping, Romantic collections that reference past time periods when clothing was more intricate and well-made.

For the house's FW '20-'21 collection at Paris Fashion Week, Meunier looked at the ballet "L'Après-midi d'un faune" ("The Afternoon of a Faun") by legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, and in particular the costumes which were designed by the painter Léon Bakst. Mixing early to late 19th century garments with a sort of Neo-Classical idea recalls the original source material beautifully. Tights, lace, sheer tops, climbing vine-like jewelry (like the leafy vine wrapping around Nijinsky's costume), and of course shearling and hair-on-hide to represent the fur of the faun are the right elements to tell the story. Additional elements like metallic and mother-of-pearl velvet, and a treated leather that looks like the top of a well-broiled crème brulée add a layer of luxury. And in look number #28, Meunier finally got to the piebald tights worn by Nijinsky when he danced the role.

Nijinsky in photos from the 1912 debut production:

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