BEAUTY: Clothing--Dries Van Noten AND Ann Demeulemeester

I don't think I've ever combined a post for two different designers before--well, last season Undercover teamed up with Valentino for a cross-pollination experiment (seen here), but this is different. These are two stand alone collections that, through the Hundredth Monkey theory of metaphysical psychology, both looked to the exact same source material for inspiration.

The gay French author, poet, filmmaker, and playwright Jean Genet (1910 - 1986) wrote a book called QUERELLE DE BREST that was adapted in 1982 by German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder into a feature called "Querelle," starring Brad Davis and Jeanne Moreau. The highly homoerotic story involves the ship Le Vengeur coming into the port town of Brest, France where sailor Georges Querelle comes ashore to visit the bar La Feria. There he meets a man who is supposedly his brother. He also gets involved in nefarious dealings and has sexual encounters with men and women. And in order to understand these two clothing collections we are about to see, let's look at some film stills from Fassbinder's adaptation. I saw this film the year after it came out and it is stunning. The highly stylized, artificial sets and abstract, symbolist lighting plan are immediately striking, and is one of the reasons why this film is a legend.

Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester both took this unlikely book and film as inspiration for collections that, while flowing from a common spring, diverged in course and presentation. And even though it might be odd for two different high profile houses to choose the same inspiration material, it is worth noting that Van Noten and Demeulemeester were both part of the original Antwerp Six, a group of fashion designers who graduated from Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1980–81.

Let's start with the easy one. For the house's SS '20 collection at Paris Fashion Week, Ann Demeulemeester's creative director Sébastien Meunier took a more literal route, creating a collection from black sailor berets, long and short variations of pea coats and captain's coats, lace-up blouses, mesh tops, and of course the iconic, low-cut (almost nipple-bearing) A-shirt worn by Bad Davis in "Querelle." But the house has an historic template rooted in its DNA, leaning toward elements of period dress (18th and 19th centuries), and Meunier thankfully indulged that side of the brand. It is the thing that the house does beautifully so we end up with some New Romantic, swashbuckling, Pirate-y pieces that recall Westwood.

Now, on to the darker, more abstract interpretation. Dries Van Noten is a master of pattern and to reflect "Querelle"'s violent storyline and feral, animalistic sexuality, he chose to employ a jaguar print. As a counterpoint, he used floral patterns to express an aspect of Genet's writing in which the author uses poetic, lyrical, almost holy phrases and words to describe a seedy underworld of criminals. In fact, two of his novels are entitled OUR LADY OF THE FLOWERS and THE MIRACLE OF THE ROSE. Among high cut leather shorts, colors that imitate the lurid lighting of the film, and variations on the pea coat and captain's coat, we see cotton and mesh versions of the low-cut A-shirt Davis as Querelle wore in the film.

https://www.anndemeulemeester.com/
https://www.driesvannoten.be/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Rick Owens

Rick Owens never disappoints. His ideas, his sense of shape and silhouette, his expression, and his own unique personal style are unmistakable. Thoroughly unique. And for this Spring Summer '20 collection at Paris Fashion week, very very personal.

Owens' inspiration for this iteration came from his familial roots in Mexico. His mother is of Mixtec heritage from Puebla, and he recently visited the land of his ancestors for the first time in 30 years (it's easier to get there when you're in Los Angeles as opposed to Paris where Owens has been located for the past few decades). In fact, he named this collection "Tuactl" which is his maternal grandmother’s maiden name. But whatever Owens does, wherever his inspiration comes from, it gets filtered through his extraordinary, personal aesthetic vision. The shapes, the cuts, the color palettes are all Owens.

But why did he come to look back at his heritage at this point in his life? Let's let Owens tell us himself in what must be his most wonderfully extensive show notes yet.

NAMED AFTER MY GRANDMOTHER’S MIXTEC MAIDEN NAME. I’VE BEEN MOTIVATED TO EXPLORE MY PERSONAL MEXICANNESS AS A REACTION TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT’S FIXATION ON A BORDER WALL.

COLLAB WITH UNITED FARM WORKERS ASSOCIATION... I WAS RAISED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BY AN ANGLO FATHER AND NATIVE MEXICAN MOTHER. MY MOTHER AND I LEARNED ENGLISH TOGETHER WHEN SHE STARTED TAKING ME TO NURSERY SCHOOL.

MY FATHER WORKED IN THE PORTERVILLE PUBLIC COURT SYSTEM AS A TRANSLATOR FOR THE MEXICAN MIGRANT FARM WORKERS THAT WERE A MAJOR PART OF THE SAN JOAQUIN AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY. AWARENESS OF THE AZTEC EAGLE ON THE UNITED FARM WORKERS FLAG AND THE STRUGGLES IT REPRESENTED WAS A PART OF MY GROWING UP.

THE UNITED FARM WORKERS ASSOCIATION HAS KINDLY ALLOWED ME TO USE THEIR LOGO FOR THIS COLLECTION, WITH PROCEEDS FROM OUR COLLABORATION BENEFITING THEIR CONTINUING EFFORTS. FLAG GRAPHICS ARE USED ON T-SHIRTS AND OVERSHIRTS THAT WILL BE SOLD VIA OUR E-COMMERCE SITE.
COLLAB WITH THOMAS HOUSEAGO... WHEN I REALIZED MY RUNWAY SHOW WOULD LITERALLY BE REVOLVING AROUND HIS SCULPTURE INSTALLED IN THE PALAIS DE TOKYO FOUNTAIN, I ASKED HIM IF HE WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND HIS INFLUENCE FURTHER INTO THE COLLECTION. INTERESTINGLY, HE HAD BEEN THINKING OF BORDER WALLS AND AZTEC HIEROGLYPHICS AS WELL AND ALLOWED ME TO USE ONE OF HIS WALL SCULPTURES AS OUR INVITE ART.

I ASKED TO HAVE SOME OF HIS L.A. STUDIO CLAY SHIPPED TO PARIS TO USE ON THE RUNWAY, REFERENCING HIS PERFORMANCE VIDEO IN HIS MUSÉE D’ART MODERNE SHOW... AFTER MY RUNWAY SHOW, THE CLAY WILL GO TO L’ÉCOLE DES BEAUX-ARTS TO BE USED BY STUDENTS IN THE SCULPTING DEPARTMENT.

A SELECTION OF HOUSEAGO LABELED GARMENTS AND RUNNERS ARE MEGALACED WITH A BLACK WAX OR A WHITE WAX FINISH, ECHOING THE TEXTURES OF HIS WORK
COLLAB WITH VEJA — THE MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY SNEAKER BRAND I COULD FIND (TO QUOTE MYSELF, “I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO AUTHORITY TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY, BUT I DO ENDORSE THE IDEA OF THOUGHTFUL LIVING AND PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE WITH KINDNESS IN MIND. WE ALL GOTTA START SOMEWHERE”.) OUR COLLAB CONTINUES WITH A NEW HIKING SNEAKER IN GREYSCALE AND ASYMMETRICAL DETAILS.

COLLAB WITH CHAMPION — I REMEMBER MY COUSINS WEARING CHAMPION TEES AND SHORTS WHEN WE USED TO GO VISIT THE FAMILY IN MEXICO IN THE SEVENTIES... HERE I HAVE TURNED THOSE SPORTS CLOTHES INTO TOGAS, LOINCLOTHS AND BRIEFS.....CHAMPION KINDLY ACCEPTED DOING THEIR LOGO IN BLACK, WHITE, AND GREY AND WE HAVE SPRINKLED IT LIBERALLY OVER A CAPSULE INCLUDING T-SHIRTS, SWEATS, AND WINDBREAKERS.

I CONTINUE WITH A SHARP-SHOULDERED TAILORED SILHOUETTE, AT TIMES COVERED IN BRIGHT SEQUINS LIKE THE FOLKLORIC CHINA POBLANA SKIRTS MY MOM WORE IN SCHOOL PAGEANTS GROWING UP IN PUEBLA, MEXICO. BLAZERS HAVE INTEGRATED STRAPS TO PEEL JACKETS OFF AND WEAR BUCKLED AROUND THE HIPS ON THE DANCE FLOOR. BLAZERS AND LIGHT COATS ARE WORN OVER ZIPPERED JUMPSUITS OR FULL HIGH WAISTED ZIPPERED CARGO SHORTS. FABRICS ARE IRISÉ COATED CANVAS, MEMBRANE RUBBERIZED NYLONS, PAPER-THIN SNAKE, COTTON DUCHESSE, AND NYLON TAFFETA. FOOTWEAR INCLUDES GLAM PLATFORM BOOTS IN CLEAR PLEXI, AFOREMENTIONED MEGALACED SNEAKERS, OR EARTHY SANDALS IN COW FUR.

MUSIC IS AN EXTENDED REMIX OF ‘ACCELERATION’ BY LAVASCAR, MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE MICHELE LAMY’S BAND WITH NICO VASCELLARI AND DAUGHTER SCARLETT ROUGE (LAMY/VASCELLARI/SCARLETT), PRODUCED BY ROCCO RAMPINO. I INVITED MUSICIANS FROM MEXICO TO ACCOMPANY LAVASCAR’S TRACK WITH DANZA AZTECA CEREMONIAL MUSIC THAT THEY HAVE LEARNED FROM THEIR ELDERS. VOCALS ARE IN THE TRADITIONAL NAHUATL AZTEC LANGUAGE
“TECUATL NONAN, AMIXPANZINCO ONCAN NOYOLO.
CUICATL ANYOLQUEH XOCHITL ANCUEPONQUE”
“LORDESS OF WATER, HERE IN FRONT OF YOUR HONORABLE GAZE, IS MY HEART. YOU KNOW THIS LIFE SONG YOU HAVE LAID OUT YOURSELF LIKE FLOWERS...”

Aside from the well-earned middle finger to the current occupant of the White House and a boost to unions via the United Farm Workers Association, the show itself was pretty stunning with an electronic Aztec group performing a song by his wife's band, and clay mounded on the runway in the dry fountain at the Palais de Tokyo (Owens venue of choice for a while now).

I love the cyclops sunglasses. And can we talk about the AMAZING ACRYLIC platform boots? WOW. Oh, and those yummy sneakers wrapped with what looks like a million laces.
Phenomenal.
As always.

https://www.rickowens.eu

BEAUTY: Clothing--Yohji Yamamoto

The highly regarded and highly decorated designer Yohji Yamamoto is one of those elevated, iconic artists who are singular. While I love when a designer takes inspiration, or inspirationS from some wild, fascinating, interesting source, Yamamoto exists in a realm of his own mythology, much like Rick Owens. Yamamoto has his own vernacular and his own internal logic that, when it comes down to it, simply does not need or want inspiration or a theme. His creations--East and West elements combined into a future/retro (sometimes ecclesiastical) sensibility, layered and slouchy Bohemian chic garments, flowing asymmetrical cuts, all awash with an insouciant, rippling sense of Romanticism worthy of any French Symbolist poet--are timeless, since they are not necessarily tethered to anything outside of their orbit.

For this Spring Summer '20 collection shown at Paris Fashion Week, Yamamoto created a chapter in his ongoing sartorial story, and it is of course as viscerally artistic as always.

Fashion journalist Amy Verner spoke to Yamamoto after the show and reported, "Today, he reiterated his fear of an impending climate crisis, as well as his view that gender distinctions in menswear and womenswear have all but evaporated...Yamamoto’s approach seemed less conceptual this season, and his commentary was correspondingly direct. 'The earth is going to be crazy, really crazy,' he said. 'I’m afraid the earth is going to die.' Did he think he would see this in his lifetime? 'No, maybe our children and grandchildren.' And yet this wasn’t necessarily an exercise in fatalism. The pair of hands on the side of a garment—were they signaling some sort of diplomatic handshake or a more affectionate clasp? 'Both,' he replied."

It's a subject that is on everyone's mind. And how do we reconcile this enormous idea of cataclysm, so big that it eats away at many of us and still others cannot even completely comprehend it at all, with the daily fact of our lives and with the fact that we will still go on hoping and creating until we no longer can? As the saying goes, "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..."

Water color washes combined with sayings ("I hold you, you hold me" and "Mother F******" on tees), and an interesting investigation of the shapes of European heraldic designs on sleeves. All of this beauty is grounded by his signature wide-cut, cropped, flowing trousers. I would gladly have one of everything shown here. And wear it all until I no longer can.

https://www.yohjiyamamoto.co.jp/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Louis Vuitton

Since Virgil Abloh has taken over at Louis Vuitton last year, he has done some interesting tweaking to the brand. This Spring Summer '20 collection might be the moment that he breaks it out of its zone, much like how Alessandro Michele did at Gucci. Abloh looked to spring (it is a SPRING Summer collection after all) and pastel colors, and of course, flowers. There is something so appealing about this collection: the color palette feels safe in a nostalgic and not pedestrian way, and the floral motif is simple and charming, almost relieving, a respite from our current global situation. Much like Silvia Venturini Fendi did this season with her gardening and beekeeping collection, this reminds us of the power of the natural world. And to the wonder and rewarding, restorative beauty of being in it, doing simple things like smelling flowers and flying kites. Yes, there was a cute kite moment in this collection. In fact, everyone who received an invitation to this show received an assemble-it-yourself mini-kite! I love the obvious florals (the large prints of wildflower bouquets) and the not-so-obvious florals (they look like paint splatters or splashes until you see that they are colorful stalks, stems, and petals!), as well as the wearability of it all--the fluid, loose trousers are gorgeous. It's all easy and free. And feels good.

https://www.louisvuitton.com/