“WHAMBAM!” the collection is called.
Belgian designer Walter Van Beirendonck sent out slim, loud, and fascinatingly deconstructed jackets in upholstery-rich brocades, tribal prints, and terribly fun embroidery adapted from the artwork of Scooter Laforge (which figures sharks, ducklings, oranges, hibiscus, kittens, machine guns, and zig-zagging geometries). Many of the tux-like jackets had mismatched lapels and extra-long tails and were worn over breezy cream trousers belted with karate obis. Gold epaulettes on some of them rivaled those of Prince Charming in Disney’s Cinderella, for sure.
Dreamy electric music rang “Fame! Fame! Fame!” again and again, and there were jumpsuits modified with tulle bibs and capes, golden tassels, and cascades of fringe for the everyday raja. Tunics were sheer and/or embroidered, or made like oversized rash guards in the spirit of summertime.
Many of these gentlemen wore their hair in Cary Grant side parts and trotted out in wide, Japanese-inspired sandals. Some wore tusked sunglasses, and others had face-bisecting visors like longboard fins. But nothing beat the raw materials. The spectacular textiles were originally woven and printed with Laforge’s work, who alternately called Van Beirendonck a “wizard” and “fashion godfather."
“I don’t know,” the designer said when asked where these boys come from. For this season he’d started by reading about the cargo cult in Papua New Guinea and the war between America and Japan, and one thing lead to another, he said, and “It came all alive.”
“It was amazing!” British milliner Stephen Jones gushed after the show. “It was like this fantastic parallel world where Walter lives where it all, all makes sense!”
I said they looked like cosmic Etonian boys.
“That’s why I loved them,” Jones said. “Well, that’s me, isn’t it!”
After the show, Beirendonck looked like the world’s coolest Santa Claus. The designer, who is characterized by a full silver beard, wore one of his white jumpsuits. His accessories included huge silver rings fit for kingly bikers; gumball-size freshwater pearl earrings; sneakers rimmed with a shark’s tooth print; and fresh mint, which he’d strung from his neck like a talisman. “I really like it!” He said of the refreshing plant.
E-MAIL US to be notified once the Spring/Summer 2015 collection hits OC!![]()
Photos by Karl Hab
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Belgian designer Walter Van Beirendonck sent out slim, loud, and fascinatingly deconstructed jackets in upholstery-rich brocades, tribal prints, and terribly fun embroidery adapted from the artwork of Scooter Laforge (which figures sharks, ducklings, oranges, hibiscus, kittens, machine guns, and zig-zagging geometries). Many of the tux-like jackets had mismatched lapels and extra-long tails and were worn over breezy cream trousers belted with karate obis. Gold epaulettes on some of them rivaled those of Prince Charming in Disney’s Cinderella, for sure.
Dreamy electric music rang “Fame! Fame! Fame!” again and again, and there were jumpsuits modified with tulle bibs and capes, golden tassels, and cascades of fringe for the everyday raja. Tunics were sheer and/or embroidered, or made like oversized rash guards in the spirit of summertime.
Many of these gentlemen wore their hair in Cary Grant side parts and trotted out in wide, Japanese-inspired sandals. Some wore tusked sunglasses, and others had face-bisecting visors like longboard fins. But nothing beat the raw materials. The spectacular textiles were originally woven and printed with Laforge’s work, who alternately called Van Beirendonck a “wizard” and “fashion godfather."
“I don’t know,” the designer said when asked where these boys come from. For this season he’d started by reading about the cargo cult in Papua New Guinea and the war between America and Japan, and one thing lead to another, he said, and “It came all alive.”
“It was amazing!” British milliner Stephen Jones gushed after the show. “It was like this fantastic parallel world where Walter lives where it all, all makes sense!”
I said they looked like cosmic Etonian boys.
“That’s why I loved them,” Jones said. “Well, that’s me, isn’t it!”
After the show, Beirendonck looked like the world’s coolest Santa Claus. The designer, who is characterized by a full silver beard, wore one of his white jumpsuits. His accessories included huge silver rings fit for kingly bikers; gumball-size freshwater pearl earrings; sneakers rimmed with a shark’s tooth print; and fresh mint, which he’d strung from his neck like a talisman. “I really like it!” He said of the refreshing plant.
E-MAIL US to be notified once the Spring/Summer 2015 collection hits OC!
Photos by Karl Hab
