PFW: fluid and minimalist at Chalayan
After a series of recent collaborations (from the ‘demi couture’ he created at Vionnet, to the leather and canvas pieces designed with VSP), the designer has returned to what he does best, stunning collections blending street-wise wearability and strong conceptual themes.
This season it was all about the ‘Moor’s Gaze’, and Chalayan showed men’s and women’s pieces organized into flowing minimalist cotton silhouettes. There were also big-shouldered tailored jackets, shorts hidden under flowing skirts, broderie anglaise, and asymmetric details on sporty jackets. However the key feature of the collection were the elements lifted from Moorish garden designs; including the groundbreaking (literally) irrigation systems drawn out in prints and the citrus trees appearing as another motif on a series of summery cocktail dresses.
Accessories-wise the focus was on the models’ sunglasses which arrived with fabric straps holding them in place, the wide-brimmed hats, and the ankle-strap sandals in leather. Of course, there was also a sensational twist at the end: an embroidered motif of a burka-wearing woman sent the gaze the other way, back towards the audience.
