(photos: Pasha Antonov)
When I saw Ostwald Helgason‘s RTW Fall 2013 collection all I could think was, ‘What don’t I like about this collection?’ Inspired by Symbolist Literature, like Baudelaire’s ‘Flowers of Evil’ + ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, there was an equal measure of both light + heavy elements to appease all, made up to create this wonderful mixture of textures, patterns + silhouettes. Spilling with plenty of wit, the collection was full of looks that played out like little vignettes, making you smile – there were the exaggerated prep schoolboy looks (row 1, 1 + 4) where in 1, the golden jacquard cropped pants with black jacquard fitted blazer + black schoolboy cap, looks like a uniform that met it’s demise in the dryer + a shrunken jacket with 3/4 sleeves, accented with bright front pockets in look 4; Then there’s the pair of shorts (row 3, look 3) with the art-nouveau floral pattern, that upon closer observation, you notice the flower is a fanged Venus flytrap – luckily, designers Susanne Ostwald + Ingvar Helgason soften one’s horror by pairing these bottoms with a fuzzy green Lurex sweater; and Loving the sweatshirt with Baudelaire’s face on it (row 3, look 1) – it’s like an amalgam of ‘Out of Print’ tees bearing famous book covers (Vladimir Nabukov’s Lolita) + the sweatshirt trend made famous by Balenciaga + Givenchy bearing images from iconic (Star Wars), to cute (Rottweilers), to cheesy.
All of Baudelaire’s work is said to have the underlying current of ‘longing for perfection’ through cynicism + Ostwald Helgason has reached perfection with their RTW Fall 2013 simply through great design.
(via WWD)