“Who is the Painter?” is a short film featuring featuring Christiane Kubrick and Jonathan Anderson directed by Christiane’s grandson, Jack Elliot Hobbs. The short film was premiered at “II Cinemino” in collaboration with MUBI after the bran’s Men’s AW24 & Women’s Pre-Fall 24 show in Milan. Christiane Kubrick, born in Germany in 1932 into a theatrical family, initially pursued a career as a dancer and actress. Her journey led her to the film “Paths of Glory,” where she met her future husband, Stanley Kubrick. In the late sixties, the Kubrick family moved to England, and Christiane transitioned to her true passion, painting.
Christiane Kubrick’s artwork finds a new canvas on JW Anderson’s knitwear, occasionally spanning across three distinct dresses. Furnishing fabrics and arrangements metamorphose into garments, as puffy cardigans and bloomers with satin linings echo the presence of cushions or curtains. Zooming out, blazers balloon into exaggerated proportions, shirts distort with oversized sleeves, and trousers and jumpers defy conventional scales. The body becomes ensnared in oddly positioned sleeves, while textures clash in a captivating juxtaposition.
The unexpected pairing of tassels on high heels and loafers adorned with enormous tassels adds to the collection’s eccentric charm. It’s a curious blend of the strangely domestic and the plushly padded, a departure where everything seems slightly askew. A cinematic atmosphere permeates, evoking a sense of suffocation amidst the unconventional.
Anderson inspired by the realm of domestic reverie, one’s mind drifts back to the captivating interiors of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. The allure lies not just in the curtains, the red hues, or the paintings adorning the walls, but in the collaborative strokes of Christiane Kubrick, the director’s wife. Her vibrant, figurative creations, though initially relegated to the background, emerge as psychological anchors to the scenes, now indispensable to the collection’s visual narrative.
In this sartorial exploration, the once subtle elements take center stage with a peculiar blend of comfort and provocation. Velvet and satin intertwine, padding and drapes morph into fashion statements, and loungewear coexists with stilettos in an unconventional dance.
