Mattijs van Berden looks to the night sky for inspiration in an intergalactic collection inspired by sci-fi space travel and presented in the suitably dramatic interior of the Vauxhall Fashion Scout venue. The press release speaks most aptly of the need for escapism in times of turmoil, and the designer looked to the comfort and fantasy of his favourite characters from old sci-fi movies.
The Star Wars theme was immediately familiar in the striking show music, a soundtrack I've had stuck in my head since. The Never Ending Story's hero Artreyu was also an inspiration. Driven Princess Leia of Star Wars series serves as muse and Mattijs also incorporated the robot aesthetics of characters C3PO and R2D2.
The collection started subtly with blacks and the occasional dark navy, accented with glimmering gold. Green was then introduced before turning unexpectedly to warm metallic pinks, bronzes and a vibrant orange. The garments then continued in beautiful rich hues of green, from mint to teal, and blue.
Gold was intrinsic in this collection from thick trim to the embellishment whether delicate or more bulky. In contrast to the hard metallic belts and chokers the designer's signature soft industrial pleating had a strong presence in the collection and was executed beautifully in gorgeously fluid, sweeping fabric from swing jackets to stunning full length gowns. Slick clean lines referenced fictional spaceship uniforms whilst I also saw extremely extravagant jackets with pleated, structured and highly stacked flounces. I spied clever cut out shapes and also a collage patchwork effect where pleated sections or highly contrasting textured metallic panels were sewn in a geometric pattern.
Oh the finale look was divine. With a skirt bedazzled with shining stars it was whimsical with all the graceful Victorian elegance one could wish for. I definitely need to talk about those rather fabulous shoes created in collaboration with United Nude too. Inspired by Mattijs' signature pleating there really is no other word for them than fierce.
I love the dreamy and theatrical feel of this collection which adds a little wonder to the AW12 season.
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