un moment avec Lee
Paris, France
It was a tiny little corner of Paris that Steffie Christiaens chose for her men’s Spring Summer 2012 collection. Turning on to a dead-end side street, in the back corner under stained glass windows was the entrance to a tiny chapel-like building through which you gain access to the long, narrow lawn that would be the runway. It was appropriate that there be a natural setting, as the inspiration was entirely about geology, geography and how we translate those forms into the graphic terms, such as cartography.
Selected as a finalist at Hyères, the prestigious design festival in the south of France known for celebrating extreme creativity and an artful approach, it is no wonder that her collection oozed with experimentation. Geology and nature were evoked through texture, colors, and construction details. Each outfit was like its own sort of textural camouflage. One model was wearing a jacket and shorts combo whose origami construction gave the impression he was clothed in a rock rather than a cocoon of grey marble printed cotton. Others were a desert khaki textured knit combo, and a jumpsuit in waffled cotton, like a grid. Between the two looks, they represent the contrast Christiaens was trying to show between nature and our documentation of it.
In contrast to the technically generated textured and rigid origami shapes, a woven horsehair vest really stood out, a graphic design in different shades of blue. The other great piece, and more wearable, was a coat with a stiffer, sleeveless tweed layer outside, and a longer, softer cotton layer hanging gracefully underneath the rigid shell. While rubber lace over graphic gauze looked like bark peeling off of trees, there was no shortage of actual bark in the accessories the models wore. A collaboration with l’Artisan Fleuriste, the chunky necklaces and cuffs were a great compliment to the garments. Overall the transparency and surface elements created movement and dimension on the runway, but might prove difficult translations into the world outside of this little garden.
- Lee Anderson, Parisian Correspondent
Designer website: www.SteffieChristiaens.com
