FOR his AW17 collection, Christopher Kane again combined the seemingly incompatible. A collection inspired by contrasts and, in the wake of feminism, inspired by a “tougher femininity” as Kane himself calls it. The result were dresses and skirt suits with hard sharp edges and folds inspired by abstract shapes made from a silk reworking of floral French Neo-Classical damasks from 1750 adorned with Velcro fastenings hinting on Kane’s another inspiration – uniforms and workwear. So next to lacy see-through dresses we saw utility overalls and coats and deconstructed sweaters paired with Kane’s now signature Crocs.
In the year seeing many space and sci-fi films, it is no surprise we can see the same influence on the runways. Kane introduced silk pieces with spaceship drawings by a New York artist Ionel Talpazan, along with luminous taffeta dresses bound with black straps, iridescent disco-like knitwear, metallic lace and machine-dyed mother-of-pearl geometric jewellery.
The more structured looks were then contrasted with flowy silks adorned with large gold and silver sequins and flowers.
During the show, the designer also introduced a “see-now, buy-now” concept with a capsule collection of bags and trainers called The Space Collection in colours such as Mars Red, Solar Sun Yellow or Moon Dust. It was a rather otherworldly offering.
by Sara Hesikova
Images courtesy of The Communications Store