A fine wardrobe indeed, Raf Simons Aw10.The last two days have seen me enthusiastically buzz around town armed with my camera and Postalco document holder as I fly from press day to press day. This sartorial pollination has been fruitful not only for me but also for the still grounded Susie (but not for much longer thankfully) who has instructed me to snap away feverishly at the pick of womenswear. In between stroking Proenza Schouler's PS1 bags and thumbing Christopher Kane's racks of floral leathers and lace, I was afforded the opportunity to marvel at Raf Simons Aw10 collection. It has been the highlight of a hectic couple of days...
A trench but not as you know it...the bolero.Since his earliest days in fashion, Raf Simons has set out to bring youthful dynamism to tailoring and for AW10 he did just that. After a couple of seasons of mixed response, a real sense of excitement ensued his January show and deservedly so. “Now we see the real modern Raf Simons man, someone interested in tradition but also high fashion,” he said. The collection was undeniably a successful balance of fashion and traditional tailoring. Classic yet a leap in to the future. The tailoring was fastened with either metallic snaps or were affixed with fuzzy strips of velcro. There were abstract punches of colour atop jackets and deconstructed trenches, polo necks running to the knee and wrap around skirts. I have been pouring over the show images ever since they came online with a heart full of admiration but a head not quite able to fathom a few of the pieces. As much as I love the theatre of fashion shows I always long to touch and inspect the pieces and I was fortunate enough to grasp my opportunity.
A trench but not as you know it...the bustier and skirt. "The idea of fragmentation was really important in this collection – psychologically for the Raf Simons man, and literally in the garments.' Raf Simons over on Another
Several of the garments were physically fragmented but this was hard to fully understand based purely upon catwalk shots. The fragmentation ultimately meant they could be worn as whole, traditional pieces or as individual parts of one piece. For example, the trench (above and below) was divided into three parts, a bolero, a bustier and a skirt. I took great pleasure in examining each fragment before putting them together again. I just love how the wearer has a fair bit of freedom to interpret and interact with the garment to find themselves in all or any of these combinations.
The use of advanced materials and Velcro fastening certainly added a futuristic edge.Simons wanted to further redefine the tradition of classic tailoring through his fabric choices. Velcro and press buttons gave another dynamic to the tailoring and suiting. Velcro side tabs enabled classic suits to be gathered at the waist to create an altogether different silhouette. Velcro tabs were also applied longitudinally (as per the trousers below) so the fabric can be folded neatly on to itself and held in place to create a myriad of fits.
The master of minimalism certainly took us to his vision of the future, today. These looks demonstrate Simons' school boy look of old has aged quite exquisitely in to tailored manhood...
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