Ornamentation becomes an expressive, symbolic element. Superimpositions, encrustations, layered fabrics, lace, embroidery, seams. Deconstruction and reassembling, extractions of fragments and style details, a build-up of chaotic appliqués, pieces of fabric, scraps of materials altered and reconceptualised.
Reflections on memory and time: individual, collective and historical memory deposited on clothes, identifying signs. In which the dream-led, visionary dimension is a fundamental factor; in which unusual, bold combinations are created; where analogies, unexpected relations, highlighted interweaving and continuous metamorphoses materialize.
A succession of oxidised colors: bronze and brass, lead, gold, ivory, sand, grey-green and dark chocolate shot through with flashes of white, turquoise, crimson and bright jade. Fabrics are multiple or matched by contrast or similarity. Metallic taffeta, washed linen, iridescent stretch shantung, organza, crêpe, striped loose-weave linen, over-dyed linen tweed, fluid crêpes, brocades, fils coupés, damasks, jacquards, macramé lace, broderie anglaise, chiffon and laminated leather.
A kaleidoscope of eclectic motifs, material collages of exploding plates and cups from the “for best” dinner service, frames of rose bouquets, foliage, chintz flowers, geometric patterns and polka-dots forming collages of every kind and colour.
Fluid, asymmetric, elongated lines contrast with couture constructions. Draping and superimposing, jabots, tiers, frills, sheerness, veils and layering. Boxy trousers with male volumes. Double-breasted jackets reveal unexpected see-through openings. Long, seductive dresses and severe, decorated blouses. Rigour and ornamentation, accumulation and removal.
We need excess, eccentricity against the cliché, banality, uniformity.
Photo: The Courtesy of Antonio Marras
