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Talking backstage, Dries Van Noten wore a navy cashmere scarf crossed around his neck and neatly tucked into a matching v-neck jumper. Something of a sight to behold, the designer switched effortlessly between English, French and Dutch when addressing questions on every minutae of the collection that had just been shown on the runway to rapturous applause. The king of proportion, elegance and cut for women hit another harmonious chord for AW12 with a collection that took colour and pattern inspirations from Asia while form and silhouette came from military attire. Held inside the wonderfully opulent setting of the Paris Town Hall, the models walked serenely underneath bulbous, glass chandeliers to a sparse, emotive track from Bon Iver. At one point the hot and packed hall was so quiet the only sound to be heard was that of the models heels on the heavy wooden floor. He had the audience in the palm of his hands. i-D online spoke to Dries after the show.
You used Bon Iver for the soundtrack you must be a fan? Oh yes it was Bon Iver, I am a fan. For me it was a reflection of somebody who’s looking for peace and tranquility and taking time in life.
Are you involved in the casting of models in your show, if so what are you looking to express via your choices? Yes we’ve been busy casting the girls for the past three or four days. We know that there are girls who can present the clothes in the right way but we look for something other than a dress model or a catwalk model, we look for girls who will bring something to the clothes.
There’s a play between delicacy and strength in these girls faces. Well we can talk about our make-up choices here because we were looking for just one certain idea, I didn’t want the usual eyes and lips no, it was just one colour above the eye, strong, to the point.
I saw something of this in the shoes too.. Yes, the shoes were really kind of no nonsense, we started from masculine shoes like lace-ups and moccasins but combined with horn and horn heels, they’re made in Italy.
Text: Sarah Hay
Photography: Mitchell Sams
Click here to see our AW12 Womenswear coverage in full.
