It was a high tech punk heaven as Philipp Plein delivered his latest blockbuster show in Milan that set man against machine – or, to be more precise, robot against woman. Plein’s woman is a fierce, fearless one who is a warrior on the streets as well as the nightclubs – she’s thrown out her high heels for spiked flat boots and studded up platforms and she’s got enough leather and silver to fill up a band of high-end Harley’s Angels.
Brought to life by Thierry Dreyfus’ production company Eyesight, an enormous conveyor belt was set up inside a huge warehouse on the outskirts of Milan where models were ‘assembled’ like packaged goods by gigantic swinging machines, as if at a car manufacturer. If that weren’t enough Plein also stationed a robot band called CompressorHead, a musical group of non-humans whose metal heads bounced back and forth as they punched on drums and hammered on their guitars. Next? A screaming live concert by none other than Courtney Love. It was unreal, as usual, and setting the bar ever higher for master showman Plein.