Natalia Alaverdian cited influences as varied as “1990s hip-hop culture, aliens, Highlanders, and horror movies,” and a “Victoriana Space Princess who’s a little into S&M,” so one might be a bit surprised to find the unifying theme of her latest A.W.A.K.E collection to be something as innocuous as a rabbit. But this being Alaverdian, who has previously drawn inspiration from zebras and dragonflies for the exaggerated silhouettes of her street style–favorite wares, this was no ordinary bunny rabbit. More Donnie Darko than Peter Cottontail, this rabbit was menacing and strange and many things that are not synonymous with cuddly. This led the designer to shoot her lookbook and video in the context of an imagined mental institution with a large plastic rabbit’s head silhouette looming over the models from a corner.
“It’s very much like, what if an alien came down and tried to dress like a person?” explained Alaverdian. “They might pick up a tablecloth and just wear it around.” That’s true, they might. And if they’d been paying attention to Demna Gvasalia’s good-taste-bad-taste designs for Vetements, they might actually find themselves featured in many a street style slideshow. For a certain fashionable consumer, there are thrills to be found in outfits that require footnotes and in pieces that serve as a dog whistle to other like-minded individuals. And while that customer might be very pleased to find such things as a rubberized coatdress here, there were also quite wearable water-repellant parkas in fire-engine red, houndstooth-lined coats, and down-filled duvet-style wrappers that will only raise a few eyebrows. For those looking to make no waves other than pleasing sartorial ones, Alaverdian had oversize faux shearlings, quilted bomber jackets, and an elegantly feminine eyelet leg-of-mutton–sleeved top, all of which would happily contribute to ensembles that require absolutely no explanation at all.
