Joan of Arc is said to have been the inspiration behind this Fall collection by Afroditi Hera. Joan was a woman who resorted to high drama to accentuate her defiance against every limitation placed on a woman in the Middle Ages, leading to her becoming an unlikely military cross dressing leader + finally, a living myth. This strength Joan displayed is definitely present in the pieces shown here. When I first saw this collection, it left me speechless. Full of sculptural clothing + jewelry, juxtaposed by raw forms, you can’t but agree it is fine art. For this season, Hera introduced pliable felt along with flowing fabrics + leather into the collection. This lethal combination resulted in a material that was then ‘molded’ into a bustier (row 3), tailored into collars + crafted into necklaces to create structured outfits for body-con silhouettes.
Look at how effortlessly the raw form of the leather on the dress above, softens its straight lines. The bustier, below center, is red-carpet ready, wouldn’t you agree?
Some of the forms appear to be based on pretty simple + straight forward designs but then, when you look to the back, there’s a twist. Take the cropped top of the dress below, where its ends just meet at the collar, resulting in a triangular opening symmetrical to the V dip of the dress bottom. It appears as if the model were wearing wings.
Hera’s bracelets are all handmade out of wood + obnoxiously big, which I love. Definitely a surprising accessory for evening. I love how great they look over a black sheer sleeve.
It’s a miracle no celebrity has been shot wearing her designs – besides being red-carpet ready, they would look great as performance pieces too. I can picture the bustiers on the likes of Brooke Candy + Beyoncé + the gown in row 2 on Cate Blanchett.
These pieces + more, from Hera’s Fall collection, are available for purchase at Wowcracy.