A.F. Vandevorst F/W 11.12 Paris

[Donatello89]

i'm fed up with too dark things........ outlines are good, but some colors and materials...not a fan

 

[mikeijames]

i love the vandervost clan, but i have to question whether or not this collection derives most of its strength from the cut of the garments or the way they style them on the runway. from a quick glance, it appears as if those garments might look quite ordinary should they not get twisted around the model's frame like that.

 

[Scott]

well "ordinary" is hardly a term i would use to describe their work in any vein. simple,perhaps,but more often than not what they do is covetable....even the simplest.

and have a gander at these i'm curious as to what their concept was because i didn't notice the newspaper elements from the catwalk....it's very interesting.

*ashadedviewonfashion.com

 

[VogueParisLover]

^ Amazing details. One of their best collections in a long time.

 

[HeatherAnne]

So many intricate details to take in, so much beauty to absorb. I love that the tailoring is just exquisite from behind as it is from the front (and I imagine every angle) so many designers are negligent when it comes to this element of design. The styling was impeccable, and though we are seeing head-to-toe looks I think you could easily take any one piece of it, wear it with something else and have it make just as much of an impact. True artists, I love it beyond words.

 

[softgrey]

i just went to see spiderman on broadway...

and i feel similarly about both that production and this one...
it's not completely successful...
but when it's good, it's SO good that i forgive the missed steps...

...

 

[Crying Diamonds]

I'm so disappointed - why all the fur and bondage stuff, and the messy, poorly constructed jackets?

I agree, the jackets are incredibly badly constructed.
There are some nice ideas here though, even if they do only come across in the styling.

 

[Zazie]

I agree, the jackets are incredibly badly constructed.
There are some nice ideas here though, even if they do only come across in the styling.

.....yes, so far from the neat, impeccable, asymmetrical work they usually do. Their "themes" used to be much more subtle too, not literal, and always edgy but lovely and wearable. Their previous collection was such an example.

 

[Tentacl Ventricl]

well "ordinary" is hardly a term i would use to describe their work in any vein. simple,perhaps,but more often than not what they do is covetable....even the simplest.

and have a gander at these i'm curious as to what their concept was because i didn't notice the newspaper elements from the catwalk....it's very interesting.

The inspiration is the taxidermy art of Dutch duo Maarten Kolk and Guus Kusters. In their work entitled Avifauna they take dead birds and, once stuffed, fashion them alternate coverings to feathers and in one instance a newspaper tail.

Avifauna is rather tame compared with other hybrid animal sculpture taxidermy art produced by ie Thomas Grunfeld, Iris Schieferstein, Deborah Sengl and Katharina Moessinger which can be seen to be fairly poignant to this season's zeitgeist.

The notion of hybrid animal forms or a Deleuzean 'becoming animal' can be seen in McQueen SS10 and Lee had also referenced Hieronymus Bosch in AW10/11 who's paintings contained hybrid species grotesques.

One can also see this line of influence present in the Prada collection this season.

In the Vandevorst equestrianism yes, but extend that I think into hunting. With woman becoming avian with the tailfeathers and mammalian with the fur 'tails', there's also a play on whether she is the hunter or the hunted. Which chimes with the work of Deborah Sengl. Prada is perhaps more Katharina Moessinger.

Whilst I think I saw only one halterneck form in the collection (a definite trend elsewhere) those harnesses worn over the derriere take us to the german etymological root of the term 'halterneck'. A halter being the means of shackling animals so as to attach a lead and which dates back to the dawn of the domestication of animal breeds. I take the harness contraptions to be halters. Although quite why one would wear them where Vandevorst propose, well..I guess that's a whole 'nother story...

Haider Ackermann having been 'picked up' by the twitterati, I think perhaps we're quite glad that Vandevorst remains a minority interest. Although of course I'm sure we'd wish them an equal measure of critical acclaim and positive publicity of which they are unquestionably deserving.

 

[Scott]

^thanks a lot tentacl for the synopsis. i kind of get the bird elements in the make-up and even in the way they wrapped and draped everything. and those gray pieces with the prints remind me of newspaper ink.

and yes i agree,there are some elements of their work drawn from hunting...in fact the essence of their work since their inception has basically been 'uniforms' of various forms....usually military,medical,hunting,equestrian and even ecclesiastical.

 

[softgrey]

i watched the video to this just now and i have to say it is one of the best shows i have ever seen...

it's on their website if anyone is interested...
http://www.afvandevorst.be/main.html