Beyond Knitting
Dries Van Noten’s 100th Fashion Show
Dear Kay,
Come along, we’re going to Paris! Time for our semi-annual Escape To BeautifulnessTM: a new collection by my hero, Dries Van Noten.
Vogue provides excellent coverage of this Autumn/Winter 2017 collection fashion show. It’s a big one for the Man from Antwerp, because it marks his 100th show.
“I just think people are looking for realness and authenticity now,” Van Noten said. He called on 54 women who had modeled for him in the past, so the Bone Structure Hall of Famers coming down the runway range in age from teens to fifties.
Here’s the entire 15-minute show.
He says he wanted this 100th show to go back to the basics of a runway, chairs, and models. “Celebrating without nostalgia and with little artifice,” he wrote.
No big deal. (Ha!)
Except the clothes, of course. Worn over denim in many cases. All his hallmarks are here, most memorably his patterned fabrics—pulled from his archives—and overlaid with a new layer of geometric pattern and ornament. I love this idea so much.
The soundtrack is a crazy quilt pastiche of snippets of dialogue, “The Man I Love,” Louis Armstrong, stripped-down Bowie singing “Heroes,” and I can’t even tell what else.
(All the fur is faux, Women’s Wear Daily says. The emerald green foxes of the world can rest easy.)
And in breaking Dries news, a documentary, Dries, is set to open later this month. It’s the first time he has allowed a filmmaker, Reiner Holzemer, to follow him around. I can hardly wait to follow Dries around. The trailer is up top. I can’t tell where exactly we’ll be able to see this, but I’m nothing if not dogged in my pursuit.
Love,
Ann
A big WOW! I am completely disconnected from the fashion biz, so I’d never heard of Dries Van Noten. Thanks for showing me who is and what he does. His work is inspiring. BTW, did you notice the knit turtle neck vest? I want to make that.
Wow. Beautiful fabrics AND now not feeling so bad about my morning hair. That’s a show.
This was a real Sunday morning treat, right up with with Chocolate Babka as a way to make Snday morning a special treat. Thank you.
But i couldn’t help but be reminded of my early elementary school years in the 50s when girls were not allowed to wear pants to school, so we wore jeans under our dresses to keep out legs warm. Big smile.
shazam tells me the music I like most from this is Pina by Thom Hanreich and Lilies of th Valley by Jun Miyake. And man, those velvet coats with the split circle appliqués? Dying.
If you like those songs you should check out the entire soundtrack for the fil Pina, and the film itself. Wim Wenders is the director. Talk about art. After you see that film, everything looks like dance.
well that was gorgeous! makes me want to try intarsia. those floral prints with geometric overlays…. love them!
To quote Modest Mouse, “so much beauty it could make you cry”. I watched it twice and cried twice. Thank you for bringing this to my Sunday morning!
Ann and Kay,
Thanks so much for your Lazy Sunday suggestions!
I don’t know if this one has been suggested already, but I just finished watching Good Girls Revolt on Amazon Prime. 1969-70, “News of the Week” Magazine and women allowed to be researchers for reporters, but not allowed to be reporters. Norah Ephron is a character. How far we’ve come and how little we’ve progressed all at the same time. So Good!
Yours is the first email I open in the morning. Thanks for EVERYTHING!
His are one of the designer patterns I almost always buy from Vogue (when they’re having one of their sales)… his and Issey Miyake’s. And usually the Tilton sisters. It doesn’t matter if I’m going to make them… it’s the wonderful possibility of them, the inspiration. It’s like collecting art.
Oops… I just confused him with a different designer… It doesn’t look like Vogue patterns has anything from his collections.Too bad.
Geometry never looked better. Thank you!