Sometimes written on the garments, at others on the bodies of the men and women who wore them, the capitalized phrase I AM RED WITH LOVE declared Sébastien Meunier’s mood at this Ann Demeulemeester show today. “Rebel in love,” the designer semi-clarified backstage. “Love is a colorful emotion for me. And we can say also I am black with love. But we blush and we become a bit red when we are in love, so there is all of that. I wanted to give something that was a bit shy—emotion, charming emotion.”
There was certainly a torn romance to this monochrome-dominated—but red-flashed—collection. Ribbons and chainlets of beads tipped with dyed red feathers hung from loose, soft asymmetrical outfits. The broad wide and ruffled arm shape on a silk shirt was revived as a stand-alone sleeve later in the show. White silk standards printed with a bird or disassembled abstracts—and possibly at one point a photograph of a dog—were draped around bodies like flags to signify deep meaningfulness. There were some attractive multi-fabric patterned military jackets in a burgundy-touched red.
The parent in this critic slightly worried for these rebels in love: so many trappings hung so loose and long from them that the wonderful cautionary montage from The Incredibles, about the perilous impracticality of capes, sprang to mind. But health and safety are the sometime enemies of artistry, and a number of Meunier’s delicate disassemblies did show artistry consistent with the Demeulemeester code of wearable angoisse.
