Animal Instincts
My dear readers…..thank you for your patience! WHEW! I don’t know about you, but for me, 2023 is off to a racing start.
However, some interesting fashion moments have occurred recently of which I would be remiss not to comment. To be perfectly frank, I’m not super invested in following the menswear scene. My husband, bless his heart (as we say in the South) is by no stretch of the imagination a fashion afficianado….so we will see how he does at NYFW!
But I digress….the most compelling event recently, to me, was the Chanel Haute Couture show. As you already know, I’m a HUGE fan of la Maison de Chanel. I saw glimpses of it on Insta before I got to see the entire show, and without even reading the caption, you just KNEW it was Chanel. What I find daring about htis particular collection is that, for an Haute Couture show, the hemlines were….short. Of course we would expect nothing less from the daredevil house that created “La Garconne” look in the 1920’s, pioneered the LBD, and brought tween into the popular conversation. I’ll admit, the loafers and top hats kind of threw me for a loop, as did the mini-bow ties.
And of course, there’s the Schiaparelli show. Ironically, in the lifetime of these two iconic artists, they were something akin to rivals (although I’m not sure either one admitted it). It seems doubly ironic to me that the famed house that once broke with gender traditions, forged new paths in womenswear, whether in the drawing room or on a horse, has since become something of “your grandma’s” house….of course, this concept, like a fiery dragon, has been beaten back by the genius talent of the late great Karl Lagerfeld, and of course his successor, Virginia Viard (in my opinion, to immaculate effect). Schiaparelli, as opposed to the refined legacy / perception of Chanel, was always avant-garde in her own way. Her designs featured shocking elements (such as the “shoe hat,” in collaboration with Salvador Dali) that couldn’t help but catch the viewer’s attention, like it or not. The recent show was no exception!
Creative Director Daniel Roseberry defended the choice to incorporate very life-like animal heads on the latest runway by explaining that the animals selected were all symbolically pertinent to Dante’s “Inferno.” He further elaborated that the point of this show was to highlight the technical prowess of the atelier, and to highlight “his conception of couture of couture as a space for experimentation and awe” (as reported by WWD).
Honestly, I couldn’t agree more. As long as no animals were actually harmed (which they were not), I would agree in general that the runway is the perfect place to fantasize, explore our deepest desires - and fears - and otherwise express our artistic visions in much the same way as Francisco Goya painted “The Sleep of Reason“ (1797).
