STRIKE a pose, there’s nothing to it. After trading in the consumer-driven runways of NYFW last season, Thom Browne debuts his first AW18 womenswear collection as part of PFW. Opening to the remixed sounds of Vogue by Madonna, the collection is a celebration of the female form like never before, with conceptual inspiration from art in general. Located in the decadent Hotel de Ville, models lapped around apparent artists at work as they posed beside easels with paintbrushes in hand.
Masses of tailored garments allows for an overwhelming sense of masculinity, but this is later overshadowed by curve-accentuating tapered dresses and womanly silhouettes. To abate masculinity further, mapped out seams follow the contours of the female form. Cinched bodices, on the models, flare at the hip through use of boning to exaggerate the figure. Use of various textures deconstructs the body, drawing attention to womanly features in a subtle manner. Stand-out looks featured dappled prints depicting naked women and embellishment in place of nipples allow for a suggestive yet elegant touch.
An artistic reference to sculpture comes through statuesque depictions of the female form. Dropped to distort the silhouette, the reference to sculptural art allows us to appreciate the body’s natural beauty. At the same time, a sense of empowering women through the celebration of the figure carries feminist undertones. An abundance of printed and textured materials creates a graphic aesthetic, with sophistication coming from the fifty shades of grey colour scheme Browne has adopted.
A tongue-in-cheek change of music to Who Let the Dogs Out by the Baha Men led us to the finale, a structured dress adorned with heaps of flowers, which trailed after a pack of leashed men – amplifying the collections stance of feminism.
by Todd Burns
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