Thom Browne F/W 12.13 New York

[Not Plain Jane]

style.com

[Not Plain Jane]

style.com

[Not Plain Jane]

style.com

[Not Plain Jane]

That third-from-last black dress. So lovely.

[elle_gb]

I know he's creative person some of the looks looked pretty decent, it'd be great If i see something more wearable from this collection cos he's so talented.

[TianCouture]

I may be the only one to say or feel this, but I think he would be great at Dior. The attention to the waistline and peplums in this collection is really tremendous. It could translate so well to couture...

[Donatello89]

wow !!!! impressive, so architectural !!

[Vitamine W]

I know this is a hot mess when quickly glanced upon, but the craftmanship of the clothes, the extra mile styling and the flawless make-up job are deeply impressive. I agree I would love to see this man do couture..

[Prairie]

Surprisingly, I love that!

[Selfportraitgrl]

NEW YORK, February 13, 2012
By Tim Blanks

Jeff Buckley hymned "Hallelujah" on the soundtrack, while flickering candles barely illuminated a wood-paneled room in which ten coffins had been arranged in a row. They held the bodies of "ten beautiful girls who died for fashion," according to the gray-suited female rector who introduced the scenario.

No one could ever say Thom Browne is incapable of setting a scene. In the past, once he'd done that, he proved himself perfectly capable of sailing on into extremes scarcely logical. The boldness-bordering-on-lunacy of such an approach has exposed him to ridicule time and again. Admittedly, today's spectacle of a roomful of coffins was scarcely encouraging. But wonders never cease in the merry-go-round world of fashion. Browne's scenario called for his victims to be reanimated by their love of fashion. They clambered out of their coffins and stood sentinel-like while models meandered around them. So far, so macabre. But the notion of rebirth actually worked in a deeply metaphorical way, because what Browne showed was far and away his most convincing women's collection to date.

In fact, it touched on emotions his often contrived work has never plumbed. It may be as simple as this: These gilded, ethereal clothes were felt, not thought.

For one thing, there were none of the gratuitous volumes that Browne is so attached to. Elegant elongation ruled, with the emphasis on a narrow waist. Exaggerated peplums and bustles heightened that emphasis. Although the designer insists he is absolutely influence-proof, there were inescapable echoes of haute couture's golden age in such silhouettes. Same with a pleated cocoon, or sack-backed dresses. Then there were architectural constructs, with swoops of fabric that suggested the more outré reaches of classic couture. A mink bolero, sparkly tweeds, and fur-trimmed camel were ingredients in a headily luxe stew.

The one element that most obviously harked back to Browne's past indulgences was the body modification. The designer exaggerated any point where the body naturally protuded—shoulder, elbow, knee, breast. It was that kind of flourish that made Rei Kawakubo a point of reference. But the soundtrack, drawn from Tim Burton movies, was maybe more relevant. The arena in which Thom Browne operates isn't fashion, it's the same rich, private world of fantasy that Burton explores on-screen. The world needn't be what it is, the designer says. And here's the proof.

style

[Lee MG Tisci]

[TianCouture]

Wow, he even went as far as to mention Dior...the man is asking for the job. I think he would do great at Dior.

[Not Plain Jane]

Thanks for the video - they mention Orlan - woot!

[Tentacl Ventricl]

Originally Posted by Not Plain Jane

Thanks for the video - they mention Orlan - woot!

Which opens up some very interesting parallels between fashion and not just Orlan but the whole body art movement since the 90's based on the ideas of Foucault, Kristeva and Deleuze. (For a good introduction see Sally O'Reilly's 'The Body in Contemporary Art')

If the surface of the body has become a canvas, a site of expression - and of course beyond art practise into social languages of tatooing, piercing, modifications including plastic surgery, depilation, etc - then of course fashion has a long history of the dressed body also being the self-sculpted body.

Whether at the level of the cutaneous, the subcutaneous or via the clothed body; whether body art or fashion art; which media, which canvas, need not matter and fashion may, as Thom Browne does here, have much to draw upon from the body art movement in terms of, itself, pushing towards a living sculpture, fine art, status.

In the already burgeoning secondary literature on what I think may well come to be seen as a seminal collection, I've seen comparisons drawn with Rei's SS97 and Yojhi's SS06, to which I'd like to add Rick Owens SS12. Not just in that Thom's look #15, I think it is, causes direct comparison, but in both their emphasis on mid century couture (but more besides), Rick's offering from last season also bears being reconsidered, reawoken. Thom's own AW12/13 Mens might also be seen as part of the story. Amazing.

[Not Plain Jane]

Have you read Catherine Spooner's Fashioning Gothic Bodies? Very smart. I think you'd like it, TV.