American painter Alice Neel was the inspiration behind Christian Wijnants’s Pre-Fall collection; her whimsical color palette and the fresh energy of her brushstrokes appealed to the Belgian designer, whose expressive chromatic sensibility is a distinctive trait. The painterly abstract floral prints that graced a series of dresses and separates were made in-house, referencing the vibrant dynamic of Neel’s aesthetic.
Color gave the collection a cohesive quality; bright shades of green, porcelain blue, and purple were offset by white and black touches. Prints and patterns were blended in artsy patchworks, gracing fluid, layered shapes; dresses were cut loose and easy, often with asymmetries emphasizing a dynamic sense of movement.
Wijnants also tried his hand at more structured shapes. Tailoring counterbalanced the effortless ease he favors in a series of oversize masculine pantsuits in checked wool with strong shoulders and a straight cut. Worn either with matching palazzo pants or long skirts, they made for a cool proposition. Elsewhere, a more graphic theme of stripes played out as an alternative to florals; inspired by one of Neel’s intimate paintings, they looked fresh on an unfussy, graceful sweater-and–knitted skirt ensemble.
