Luke Meier turned to Allen Ginsberg as the voice of this collection, prefacing the OAMC show notes with lines from “Song”: “The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction.” He could have quoted “Howl,” with its doomed hipsters and inflammatory prose. Instead, the poem’s four letters were set within an old athletic uniform badge on the breast of a tapered black topcoat that opened the show. Tacked to the back of a sleek flight jacket, the signed inside cover page of Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems appeared enlarged and replicated in embroidery. Only afterward did Meier reveal the designation of his own four letters this season: One Always More Conscious.
As a designer, Meier has a lot to say (as Jil Sander’s newly appointed creative director with his wife, Lucie Meier, he now has an additional outlet). Certain universal truths—Lumière and veritas (light and truth) and My way—made it onto the clothes as small sewn tags; whereas People for Peace was manifestly large, which Meier insisted was not motivated by any agenda, but simply a way to communicate a constructive message. More important was the construction message, which was immaculate as per usual, but now increasingly reactive to this moment in time. Meier coaxed a supported shape out of lightweight gabardine nylon by bonding it from within, so those wearing the jackets look protected without feeling weighed down. The off-white car coat was assembled by deconstructing an undesignated flag provided by an old flag-maker near the brand’s atelier in Milan. Prevented from standing for something, it was transformed by Meier into a piece that reflected his label’s notion of “a couture institution attitude.” Frankly, this makes the clothes sound overly formal when, in fact, they were as likely to be airy, individualist, and expressive. Those who didn’t immediately sense this via the reggae soundtrack hopefully noted it throughout the lineup: the hand-painted, mimosa-tinged camouflage; the artistic print that whirred in every direction; and the delicate blouse cuffs ringed with thick utility straps.
The perspectival wood background behind the models, built by the in-demand Parisian design firm Diplomates, featured a speaker at its center as though an oversize, handcrafted amplification device. No one needs more negative noise; hence the earplugs provided with the invitation. But then most of us don’t need another black blouson—unless, of course, we’re able to justify it as meaningful. Meier does his best to ensure we find that in OAMC.
