CHARLES ANASTASE S/S 10 AT LFW
Texture, texture, texture everywhere by the time we got to see the Charles Anatase show in the old grandeur of the Islington Town Hall it appeared like stripped back minimalism. It was refreshing to see silk as silk, cotton as cotton and leather as leather in clean block colour devoid of pattern. The look was controlled exuberance with an air of immediacy about it, big and loose draping folds, uneven hems with cropped trousers or tulle peeping out, unbuttoned collars and rolled cuffs and trapeze length trenches. The silhouette was all drop shoulders and nape of neck roundness with volume suspended from grissgrain straps or loosely gathered or stab stitch just under or just over the bust or mid way down the back. Big apple and pare shape dresses and coats in burnt oranges, whites, caramel and crimson reds and dusty pinks set of with bold flashes of black.
A kind of wanting puritanical mistress all exposed collar bone and flushed cheeks rushing out of her lovers bed with the silk sheets all trussed up around her secured with a big leather belt, in movement it had the effect of breathless, rustling surfaces. The points at which Anantase cuts up the form is where it gets exciting, where the neckline sits on the collar bone or the hem falls and cuts an angle, the inches of bare flesh against the show off draping with its big deceptively random folds and gathers. All this worked to create a very confident and clear collection where as previous collections have struggled with many elements fighting to make the statement. Anastace has suggested that this collection should mark his 10th year in the business as a closure and a new beginning, hopefully the quote on the invite “John?….something more abstract.”(Yoko Ono 1971) is an indication of the path to come, its often what you leave out that make a more succinct and lasting statement, and after this show we await the next.
Illsutration: David Poole
Illustration: David Poole
Illsutration:David Poole