WALTER VAN BEIRENDONCK FALL/WINTER 2009
One thing to always expect from Walter Van Beirendonck collection that creatively, is a cut above the rest. At one point, one may be thinking that this guy is not talking fashion seriously, a funny concoction of colors and models in clothes that are too silly to be worn can’t possibly be fashion, can it? Van Beirendonck is one designer who continually stresses how tired he is of easy fashion, he's always embraces the challenging. With previous collections focusing on representing the phallic as humorous (he’s named collections Sex Clown and Explicit) his work embodies a certain fusion of fashion and art that takes a thorough analysis in order to be enjoyed or perhaps simply appreciated. Reconstruction is clearly a strength of Van Beirendonck whether it comes in the form of technique or something more abstract.
This season the phallic signifiers are the undertone of the collection as Van Beirendonck’s focus turns to structures and what comprises them. Fall 2009 is based on a skeletal system, he gives us a hat but rather just gives us the backbone: a matter of lines coming together to form a hat-shaped object, but interpret as you wish. He presents his usual twist on clothes like a gray suit outlined by very bold yellow lines similar to that of a cartoon or an animated motion picture but absurdity is implored to challenge the conventions of men's fashion. Van Beirendonck takes us out of the box and continues to explore menswear that will challenge the typical notions that good menswear has to celebrate the male silhouette or glorify it. This season it seemed that Van Beirendonck kept on asking himself what the Pagans of Ancient Greece kept on asking: 'Could it be otherwise?' And in Van Beirendonck’s world it most certainly is – without compromise.
