Dear Shaded Viewers and Diane,
Another newcomer on the London Fashion Week schedule, at least as a catwalk show, is another personal highlight. TOGA, literally the blessed robe, is the cult Japanese label designed by Yasuko Furuta, who pinpoints her muse as someone “who can only live in chaos”. Botany, a wonted springtime theme, is thus drastically distilled in her SS16 collection. Let that tired hibiscus be for one season: the swollen belly and heart-shaped leaves of the carnivorous Nephentes Truncata echo in glossy, dual-sided ruffles at the calf or the mouth of a pocket, along the seam of a long sleeve or the upper edge of a bucket bag. There are glazed poppy and chili reds, belts that fasten with flattened tulip bows, and multiple textiles collated and slicked "like seaweed on the shore”. The palette is equatorial, and nature is courted as the complete whole that welcomes asymmetries and symmetries both. The lower corner of a perfectly pleated long skirt is linked to the rest of it by a sheer tulle insert, so that it appears suspended just above the ankle, as if floating in shallow waters – partially detached pockets, too, look almost accidentally there. The wonders of planet Earth are found in these curious details: scales, cockscombs and jellyfish are said to inspire the rich silk cord embroideries, and there are hugs of chiffon in misty hues that could almost remind you of cirrus clouds.
Photos by Alessandro Garofola.
Later,
Silvia
