Dries Van Noten is arguably one of fashion’s most multi-sensory designers. His biannual collections always translate a multitude of romantic references; each as richly layered as his ornate embroideries. Usually, they’re brought to life on the catwalk of spectacular shows — with guests known on occasion to be reduced to tears. But what now? If all the world’s a stage, then all its players are still sartorially furloughed. The Belgian designer had to come up with an equally spellbinding way to set the tone. So, for AW21, Dries looked to dance, the single thing that we all can’t wait to do when this is over.
He enlisted major choreographers, 47 dancers from three companies and some of his favourite models, putting them centre stage in the Red Hall at deSingel, the most illustrious performance venue in Antwerp. In a three-day shoot, three sessions a day were filmed by Casper Sejersen and Pamela Berkovic, who between them took more than 40,000 pictures. There’s emotion and motion in every shot. And it made sense that the collection itself riffs on the eternal hallmarks of vaudevillian glamour: red lips, dressing room red roses, stilettos, marabou trims, sequins, chubby fur-like tinsel.
Set to Massive Attack’s Angel (they seem to be fashion’s go-to band this season), there’s something cathartic in watching the dancers writhe and convulse to music in their gorgeous Dries van Noten clothes. It brings them to life, shows them in movement. Some of the clothes may be classically beautiful — swathes of vermillion satin, damask sleeves, rosey pink sack dresses — but the movements were anything but, instead channelling the euphoric release of endorphins on a sweaty dancefloor. Therein lies a beautiful juxtaposition.
Whereas the Antwerp Six designer’s AW21 menswear collection was all about elevated neutrals and wardrobe staples — “function over ornamentation, an abstinence from artifice,” as he put it at the time — here was something altogether more decadent, erotic even. “A call to passion,” was how the show notes put it. The colours are described as Yves Klein blue, Almodóvar Red, Koons pink, Beuys grey felt — hinting at artworks that may well have inspired them. And among all those passionate flourishes were clerical black tailoring, the occasional denim and sweats, and classic trenches. “The full gamut of human emotion from happiness to rage, confusion, logic and euphoria,” the notes continued, ostensibly referencing the spectrum of feelings encapsulated by the dance. In the clothes, too, “the heightened, dramatic, exaggerated, discreet and timid all synchronise.”
There you have it. Dries’ collection was a dance in and of itself, cavorting between lustful passion and dark sobriety. And who doesn’t have mixed feelings right now? These are dark times, for sure, but dancing isn’t just joyous and light — it can be the ultimate release for our rage, confusion and fear. Whatever happens next, we’ll dance our way through it. For the lucky few, they’ll do so in in Dries van Noten.
Credits
Photography Casper Sejersen courtesy Dries Van Noten