This season Phoebe English showcased in the BFC Canon and Cinema Presentation space with a setting of smashed plaster plinths and projected screens allowing each look to be displayed in 360 degrees. The collection referenced the Elizabethan mathematician and magician John Dee’s black scrying mirror, invisibility and reflections, concealment and revelation, utilitarian fabrics and symbolist paintings. This translated into structured bands of gathering strapped around the body, mimicking a bulletproof vest.
Floating and invisible pockets over satin and transparent latex reflected upon the invisibility of this collection. Looks were accessorised with gold crowns fanning out from behind heads and oversized feathery raffia fringes covering faces. The film was dark and haunted with Victorian black mirrors which project other dimensions into reality.
by Annie Fong
Images courtesy of Phoebe English/Robert Oades