Dear Shaded Viewers and Diane,
Of all the shows we’ve seen at Vienna Fashion Week so far, yesterday’s KAYIKO has been my favourite. We took our seats to the peal of thunders, and the roar of a cloudburst echoed last night all through the venue at the MuseumQuartier. As we were soon to realize, it was no nondescript poor weather that welcomed us there, but a very precise one: it’s the downpour of 2019 Los Angeles, as recorded in Blade Runner. The first models walk in, and they are actually no models but ordinary people, wearing whitewashed canvas with scribbles, black shoes and socks. The very first look features a wide, white ribbed pipe for necklace and they all carry undressed umbrella frames customized with LED lights. In the meantime on the background, Rachael undergoes the Voight-Kampff empathy test that will determine she is indeed a replicant. Aptly titled Experimental Copy Not For Sale, that the collection is entirely handcrafted in the capital of psychoanalysis further adds to its merit. It’s worth to remember that the link between fashion and Sigmund Freud’s own method runs deeper than a metaphor: it was his nephew Edward Bernays who invented public relations as we know them, and the idea of giving people what they desire rather than what they need. Would we have a better fashion without that thought, or none at all? Back to the show, Karin O
