Happy to see that my favourite designer had won. As if I had known it before I made the effort to tape parts of the show for you to get an idea (well sorry my camera isn't that good) of this oh so perfect collection "Hail Mary". It definitely isn't a coincidence that the University of Westminster graduate was awarded by a jury which Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy was president of. I can pretty well imagine seeing Mr Cunnington somewhere in the orbit of the French fashionhouse soon.
"Hail Mary" was inspired by the life of the designers own mother who in 1969, due to social pressure, was forced to abandon her illegitimate daughter, meeting again only thirty years later. This collection, defined by the memory of this reconciliation, can be understood in a more symbolic than narrative fashion. A tightly worn draped dress ‘contains the emotion on the inside’. A cloth burnt with acid evokes the ‘fragility of this poignant story’. An exposed pocket on a coat signifies that ‘there is nothing left to hide’. The shoulders are accentuated in order to depict the anxiety and guilt carried for so long. Insignificant details suddenly gain a disproportionate importance, such as the large buttons sewn on the front of the dress. Delicate and intimate, this collection invites us to delve into the recollections and emotions of a woman. pressrelease
Well blah blah but anyway, one of the best collections at Hyères...
credit: diane pernet
