Alexis Victor Gautier – Stairs, Zebra, Bees, and Light Purple Jacket
Gautier took a year off to research his MA collection, a conceptual and symbolistic mens- wear collection that brings together 4 fictitious scenarios, 4 geographies and people and 4 external artists who collaborated on the project. The stories that underlie each part of the collection are fictitious villages and people combined together from real life fragments and inspirations, and the collaborations with people and artists happened in the same way the choreographer/dancer Pina Bausch asked her dancers to respond to a movement without knowing what the outcome would be. The first story centers on Nepal, with Annapurna felted woollen blankets and a story of a mythical man carrying around stairs, which motives are worked into the blankets. The result are sturdy and beautiful ‘brut’ silhouettes with geomet- ric patterns.
in italy, a town called San fermo della battaglia is the decor for the zebra story centering on a tailor who only makes bias cut pinstriped suits: this way the fabric falls more loosely around the body. The second part of the collection is based on these pinstripe bias suits.
The third group, the ‘bees’ originates in lancashire, Uk, where people make waterproof woolen garments with beeswax.
The light purple jackets form the fourth group and are based on the accidental discovery of purple, the first chemical dye by William Henry Perkins. This is translated in white silhouettes with purple spots.
Collaborating artists throughout the project are three Belgian artists Gauthier Oushoorn, kasper Bosmans and Max Pinckers.
With this collection, Alexis Gautier re-thinks contemporary menswear by fusing art brut and regional stories and techniques with new ways of looking at textile making.
More info http://www.antwerp-fashion.be
(all pictures: (c) Etienne Tordoir – Catwalkpictures.com)
