Mood board: For London-based designer Eudon Choi, fashion, art and architecture go hand in hand. Research into one canonical figure, like modernist architect Eileen Gray, leads to the discovery of other influential figures, like French painter Ivan da Silva Bruhns. For A/W 2019, Choi looked to the famed saturated and hyper-real photographs of French photographer Guy Bourdin, and the Swiss surrealist artist Meret Oppenheim.
Bourdin’s bold use of colour was evoked in bright panelled leather skirts and two-tone tailoring, a Scarlett trenchcoat adorned with tiny sequins, and bright graphic bags. Devoré velvet, gauzy chiffon and corduroy added to the intensity. Oppenheim was renowned for her strong sense of self. Her most famed sculpture, Le Déjeuner en fourrure (1936), a fur covered teacup and spoon, was a surrealist exploration of affluence, domesticity and female eroticism. Strength came in assertive silhouettes, like androgynous tailoring, slashed pencil skirts and excellently cut overcoats.
Scene setting: London’s South Bank has long inspired its designers: Roland Mouret shows in the brutalist landmark The National Theatre, while just over the road, Margaret Howell’s location of choice is dance company Rambert. For A/W 2019, Choi showed near the bank of the River Thames, erecting a graphic runway inside a series of raw shipping containers. The location was inspired by the backdrop of Bourdin’s images, who often shot against an urban wasteland. ‘He photographed a lot of erotic boudoir scenes, and a lot of industrial settings’ Choi said backstage.
Sound bite: Oppenheim also famously modelled for Man Ray (Bourdin was his protégé), and was shot nude in 1933 next to a printing wheel. ‘She was strong and powerful,’ Choi adds, ‘and refused to merely be termed a female artist.’ §
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