Dear Shaded Viewers,
The Y/Project’s Spring-Summer 2024 ensemble by Glenn Martens is a perceptual rebellion, the complex dance of fabric and form gracefully navigating through the traditional and avant-garde, bending not just the material but also our understanding of sartorial ancestry. A sculptural saga takes the center stage, with every piece of fabric manipulated into an eloquent statement of defiance against gravity, it spirals, shifts, and stands off, blurring the line between the garment and art.
In this cauldron of creativity, Martens becomes a fashion alchemist, blending notions of gothic architecture and narrative hints of genesis stories and patinas, into a transcendent potion of dark, majestic elegance. A narrative that asks questions – not of fashion, but of our own perceptions and expectations.
Historical and traditional garments are not merely worn; they’re reinvented, reformulated, and recast into new narratives and forms. Martens boldly allows the canvas of textiles to swirl into cascading forms and shapes, which play with and against the human form in an almost rebellious act of structural freedom. Such fluidity in form brings forth an eloquent dialogue between the wearer and the worn, inviting a layered discussion about identity and transformation within the realms of fashion.
In this collection, garments, through their dexterously achieved peaks and whorls, serve almost as a second skin – one that is in perpetual, dynamic motion. Classical garments are reinvented into abstract forms yet bear the potential, with a mere adjustment, to return to their traditional avatar, should the wearer choose.
Multifunctional closures such as hooks, eyes, and press studs are not merely functional elements but keys to an array of stylistic possibilities. Lingerie dresses are split and bifurcated; two-tone denim and leather superimpose to create a rhythmic, cowled narrative of workwear that oscillates between the traditional and the contemporary. A journey from halter neck tailoring, suspended with fluid linings, to tiered dresses dissolving into spiral hems of satin and taffeta, represents not just a flow in garment but a cascade of ideas, thoughts, and emotions. The echo of memory prints resembles burnt cloth, mirroring the ephemeral and fragile yet impassioned narrative of the season.
The crowded venues of Paris, the whispered discussions of Martens’ next potential ventures, and the burgeoning crowds of youth outside the venue hint towards a resonation of this collection with the next generation. A generation that has not just embraced but championed change, dynamism, and fluidity in identity and self-expression.
Seven thousand people under the rain at his Diesel runway rave signal more than mere admiration; it hints towards a movement. A movement that seeks to embrace the intangible, the dynamic, and the non-binary nature of style and expression. Martens does not merely create garments; he fosters narratives, emotions, and above all, questions about fashion, form, and the future.
Martens, drawing from the architectural poignancy of his Belgian hometown, Bruges, finds a melancholic yet passionate connection with his roots. His designs, though seemingly tangentially related to his inspirations, invite viewers and wearers to find connections of their own, draw parallels with their own narratives, and find a piece of their own history and future in his garments.
In the midst of turbulent twirls and cascades of fabric, Martens, with his SS 2024 collection, opens a multifaceted dialogue. It’s a dialogue that does not seek to provide answers but to provoke thought, to incite a discussion and to challenge the very roots of our sartorial perceptions and expectations.
Through the turbulence of ideas, concepts, and fabric, one thing is clear – Martens is not simply part of the fashion conversation; he is boldly challenging it, reshaping it, and in many ways, defining it for generations to come.
Later,
Leticia
