Demeulemeester's Male Retrospective
June 24th, 2009 | Global
Amid the excitement of Paris' spring/summer '10 menswear runways this week, Ann Demeulemeester's show is set to be a singularly impressive event. In recent years, many discerning tastemakers have fallen for the Belgian design maestro's brooding take on men's fashion, and her exquisite work only gets better with time. Among her many loyal fans is Erik Madigan Heck, editor in chief of Nomenus Quarterly, who recently produced an exhilarating retrospective editorial, featuring pieces of Demeuleumeester's menswear designs from 1996 up to her current 2009 season.
The editorial is an ode to the "quintessential Ann Demeulemeester man," according to Heck. The visually stunning spread reinterprets the survivalist interactions of schoolboys on a deserted island from William Golding's Lord of the Flies as well as the Catholic priests pervasive in Italian photographer Mario Giacomelli's work. For the shoot, Heck assembled 12 male models who he thought represented the Demeulemeester male archetype and photographed them playfully frolicking about Morningside Park, New York. "I was trying to capture this innocent male, who was playing and dissecting the hierarchy of adulthood, but relishing the hierarchies of almost teenage angst," explains Heck.
Of his impulse to delve deeper into the designer's psyche, Heck elaborates: "We know Ann Demeulemeester publicly more for her women, and her [friendly] relationship with Patti Smith, etc., but I felt like her 'Man' was never really explored deeply in the public eye." To revel in Heck's interpretation of Demeulemeester's brand of masculinity, check out the photos below. And to view all the images, head over to Nomenus Quarterly.
—Robert Cordero
