As sketched in the review of the Spring '16 menswear collection that was presented parallel to this Resort, Hussein Chalayan's theme of the season was Cuba. Here in his womenswear, however, the connections resonated more strongly. A halter-neck dress that with the pull of a cord could transform from military overgarment to full-skirted, siren-suitable dancing dress seemed like a perfect commentary-via-garment on the forces that have tugged at this nation for decades. Another remarkable piece, the Lulu Malulu dress, changed its color with the hoik of a skirt. The feather details pointed to Cuba's indigenous traditions, while some woven embellishments were more a distance-distorted Kente. Statistic prints, cigar roller embroidery, cigar holders, at-an-angle militarywear, and a dancing couple jacquard were allusions to the swirl of stereotype and propaganda that have defined perceptions of this island as assuredly as they have obscured it, a blanket of Cohiba fumes.
Chalayan's clothes, to use a slightly suspect phrase, demand kinetic engagement. You need to wear them to understand their full capacity. Even with the designer as tour guide, it was sometimes a struggle to appreciate as a mere onlooker the design behind knotted sleeves that could be worn over the arms or left independent of them; a faux-falling bustier that was in truth more secure than Castro; garments that realigned—pretty successfully—human symmetry across the diagonal; single-seam pleat dresses; jackets with a built-in scarf that incorporated the buttons; and a fantastically simple-intricate laced-back tank-top jumpsuit with long draped pleats that ran from each shoulder to ankle. His Cuba theme was richly thought through and articulated intelligently and playfully. The deeper journey with Chalayan, though, is into the nuanced reductions of cut, refinements of drape, and subtle challenges of orthodoxy that make him such a unique and intensely rewarding designer to visit.
