Walking into the Alexandre de Betak designed setting of Peter Pilotto was like stumbling headfirst into a real life game of Pacman. A maze of coloured paths lined the floor while the walls were multiplied by mirrored pillars. The models were the game pieces, and they almost looked like they were going to crash every time they approached a junction at relative speed – they never did and you breathed a sigh of relief every time they breezed past each other.
Getting nostalgic over the days before iPhones and social media, when kids played Snakes & Ladders, Ludo or Connect 4 to entertain themselves, Pilotto and de Vos produced a collection inspired by the intricate patterns and mosaics that make up board games, and the constellations you have to figure out in Connect 4. “We were so fascinated with the art behind them in a way,” Pilotto explained backstage. “They’re something you play with as a kid and then you forget about them completely. We looked at board games from lots of different decades and it was such a good thing to look at. We kind of took them apart so we really looked at elements and did them in our way.”
Contrasting to what we expected judging from the set and the press release, the first looks out were all white, below the knee, demure dresses. A closer look however and you’ll notice the beautiful interwoven embroidery, creating paths and channels across the looks. “We just really wanted to show the shape at the beginning, and have a crescendo to the collection,” de Vos told us after the show. “So we started with the white looks with little elements of the board games. Then the elements got bigger and bigger and you really had these whole like, pinball dresses at the end.” And it’s true, the last look was a whole new ball game!
Credits
Text Felicity Kinsella
Photography Mitchell Sams