Vionnet, SS14, Demi-Couture, Paris.
In his first collection working on Demi-Couture at Vionnet, Hussein Chalayan created a range of garments that worked with pleating and layers of sheer fabrics often embellished with cords and metal hardware. There was also a nod to the pattern making process with fabric prints that resembled pattern making paper.
The fact that there is a nod to the pattern cutting table in the collection creates a strong link between the House of Vionnet as it stood under Madame Vionnet and in the work created by Chalayan in his own label. In an interview with Style.com» in the weeks before the show Chalayan describes how he spends “hours trying to eliminate seams in coats and dresses” and that it is this aspect of the work that he finds exciting. Similarly, Vionnet is well known for her pattern and draping work, developing dresses on the bias grain of the fabric that clung to the curves of the body.
It is this form of quiet innovation that joins the two designers, rather than direct historical referencing on the part of Chalayan. This idea seems to come out best in this collection in the form of the laser cut organza dresses that use layers of sheer fabric to build up subtle colour variations, around concentric circles that ripple out from the hips, thighs and waistlines of the models.
Images from Vogue.co.uk»
Image of Dot and Cross paper from MacCulloch&Wallis»
