Dear Shaded Viewers,
In a room that once reverberated with the cold clinks of banking coins, a different kind of currency fills the air. It’s SS24, and the Ottolinger woman wraps herself in a turbulent maelstrom of anarchic elegance, unfolding within the aged walls of an erstwhile bank in Paris. Design duo Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient, the magicians behind Ottolinger, craft an anti-utopian realm where destruction mingles with delicate beauty, forging a visual symphony that is both seductively mellow and startlingly bold.
Amidst the suffused glow of enigmatic light, the linens whisper stories of ancient times, intertwined with the restless spirit of the present. Ottolinger, with its ceaseless commitment to body-positivity and a radical embrace of all that defies the norm, once again bridges the epochs. The specters of ’90s grunge and sci-fi surrealism cavort with contemporary gaming visuals, illustrating a chaotic, yet fascinating, meld of worlds.
Despite a noteworthy period of absence from the conventional runway, Bösch and Gadient navigate the realms of untouched and radically refreshed with unerring finesse. Their collaborative endeavor with Puma, illustrating a journey from the subversive street culture to metallic-clad futurism, draws eyes to silver and gold-foiled sneaker boots and unmistakably Ottolinger bags, worn by a vibrant parade of daring souls.
Woven through the collection are threads of delicate rebellion: linen knit coalescing into cowled tops, pants rebelliously, and alluringly rolled down, and denim reconceptualized with creeping, contrast flocked patterns. It’s a journey through textures and tales, each piece narrating a chapter where aesthetic beauty makes peace with vehement non-conformity.
The bodysuits, a canvas of printed tales, drape over the models, seamlessly bridging genders and tech, melding the austere with the eccentric, mechanized cyborg imagery with organic fluidity. It’s a testament to Ottolinger’s mastery that such antithetical elements merge to form a strikingly cohesive aesthetic.
Culminating in a crescendo of anarchy bridled with romance, the bridal segment disrupts the conventional with masterful charm. Dismantled silhouettes and gentle embellishments, black bandeaus parading with boy shorts, all conspire to elevate the conventional, and to lend a biting edge to the traditionally saccharine.
In this subverted bank of creativity, where once financial transactions dominated, Ottolinger trades in a currency of innovation, chaotic beauty, and resilient femininity. This is not merely a collection; it’s a carefully curated chaos, an anthem for the bold and the free, a revival of the rebellious spirit, subtly cloaked in the delicately daring and audaciously avant-garde.
As the graffiti-sprayed windows refract shards of rebellion from the streets of Kreuzberg into Parisian elegance, Ottolinger’s world looms larger, ever more entrancing, daring us to look, to dive deep, and to become one with the luxurious chaos within. It’s a beckoning to ascend, to defy, and to discover freedom in the embrace of their beautifully tumultuous world.
Later,
Leticia
