À La Disposition A/W 2012 by Claire Kearns
On the first day of London Fashion Week I went along to see the presentation by À La Disposition at Fashion Scout. Holding in my hands was an invitation that featured intricate imagery and lettering from times past in gold ink on black card – suitable perhaps for a brand whose name refers to historical costuming techniques. I was aware of American husband and wife duo Lynda and Daniel Kinnes’ previous creations, but I had not seen them before in the flesh so I was excited that I would be able to admire their handiwork up close.
À La Disposition AW 2012 by Barb Royal
Each design on a black mannequin seemed to me like a character from a story; indeed in a previous interview in Amelia’s Magazine the couple mentioned that each ‘collection is a journey which flows from a story Daniel develops as he sketches‘. There is also an interesting element of continuity, or of a story unfolding, in the way the designers name their collections from season to season. The first collection they showed in London for A/W 2011 was titled The Utopian Aviary, suggesting a hopeful, perhaps naive start to a journey. This was followed by the mECHANICAL fAILURE show in S/S 2012, alluding to some turbulent times mid-flight. The current collection does not have such a specific title, but at the top of the invitation it read: A Solemn Viewing of Autumn and Winter 2013 – I am glad someone else is confused about whether this season is A/W 2012, A/W 2012-13 or A/W 2013. The title evoked in me an image of someone who has flown high up in bright humour, but once looking down finds the view not so pleasant.
À La Disposition AW 2012 by Gareth A Hopkins
This newfound solemnity was expressed in the predominantly black and grey tints of the new season, which were in contrast with the more bold and bright colours of previous collections. Furthermore, the use of monocles as a decorative element on top hats emphasised the theme of ‘viewing’ and ‘looking’, mentioned above.
This year is of course the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens, so it was fitting that some of the designs seemed to have stepped out of the Victorian/Dickensian era. The designers behind À La Disposition have mentioned that they are inspired by London life, parts of which still nowadays resemble situations depicted in Dickens’ novels. This connection between the past and the present was made – beautifully and with a lot of wit I thought – by placing contemporary looking woolly hats underneath top hats. Here, again like Dickens, À La Disposition could also be examining different social structures and their co-existence?
À La Disposition AW 2012 by Nicola Ellen
Most of the pieces were really theatrical and well structured with sculptural shapes, displaying the brand’s great pattern cutting skills. As I really enjoy unwearable designs, a favourite feature of mine was the really long sleeves of some of the jackets, which not only reached the floor but extended even further to form long fabric tubes which trailed behind the figures.
It added to the presentation that Lynda and Daniel Kinne were dressed in mild period costume too, thus being really easily spotted in the room, with Lynda sporting blue hair against her more conservative ensemble in a delightful anachronistic fashion.
All photography by Maria Papadimitriou.
Categories ,À La Disposition, ,anachronistic, ,Barb Royal, ,black, ,Charles Dickens, ,Claire Kearns, ,Fashion Illustration, ,Freemasons’ Hall, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Grey, ,london, ,London Fashion Week, ,Lynda and Daniel Kinne, ,Maria Papadimitriou, ,Nicolla Ellen, ,Pattern Cutting, ,Period Costumes, ,Sculptural, ,Solemn, ,Structural, ,Theatrical, ,top hats, ,Vauxhall Fahsion Scout, ,Woolly Hats
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