Dear Shaded Viewers,
Some shows you admire. Others make you want to go home and open your wardrobe. Today’s Dries Van Noten was the second kind.
Julian Klausner started with an actress leaving the set at the end of the day, the film score still playing in her head, and a simple question: when do we feel glamorous? He came back with the most charming answer. You feel glamorous when you decide to. A red lip, a brooch that catches the light, a belt cinched a little tighter. It takes so little.
That kind of glamour ran through the whole collection. Nothing was grand, and nothing tried too hard. It all had the ease of clothes you’d want to wear every day.
The prints were pure delight. Klausner made posters for films that don’t exist (“Watch out! She’s venomous!”, “You cannot take your eyes off her”) and cut them into slip dresses and skirts. A giant hand with scarlet nails stretched down a silk dress under a camel trench, its sleeves pushed up. Leopard sat with open-knit stripes over a T-shirt. Blurred florals showed through sheer organza. Every mix was bold, and every one came off.
Then there was the embroidery. Brooches were scattered across a sage blazer like a lifetime’s collection of treasures. A sequinned floral tabard was belted over a striped polo with a flash of fuchsia at the hem. A skirt shivered with glass drops. Costume jewellery was piled on, never matched, and pinned onto the clothes as if it belonged to the character wearing them.
The colours were just as happy: cosmetic pinks, mauve, acid yellow, turquoise, a dusty rose dress with a blue satin collar and a yellow lining peeking out. Low pumps, loafers, a single driving glove and a big bag hugged to the body kept everything down to earth.
This was glamour you can rearrange yourself, dressing up for the pleasure of it. It was joyful, generous, elegant, and made to be lived in. Klausner has found his voice at the house, and it’s a happy one.
Diane Pernet
