People are still talking about last season’s surprise collaboration between Dries Van Noten and Christian Lacroix. It was one of those rare occasions that’s already indelibly inscribed in the great book of fashion unforgettables. The psychological afterglow is still with Van Noten, as he cheerfully admitted backstage today: “With Christian it was so liberating to enjoy, to play, to not think too far ahead about product.” He laughed, thinking about what he learned from his friend, the French couturier. “If you think you have a lot of fabric and embroidery, then do some more! Just go for it!”
Perhaps it was that train of thought that led Van Noten to think about “nocturnal glamour” and particularly the dressed-to-kill creatures of the glam ’70s and high ’80s, whom he glimpsed from afar as a young man in Antwerp, in the form of the high-gloss photography of the makeup artist Serge Lutens. Maybe she was heading for a night at the Mudd Club in New York or Camden Palace in London. Or maybe that was her, wending her way home in daylight, with a plaid coat shrugged over her glitter.
But why bring that up now? “It’s about going out, enjoying life—having fun, that’s very important!” he remarked. “I thought of this party girl. Something mysterious. Something dark. But I questioned how far it could go, while staying contemporary.” His solution was to partially casualize the glamour by applying his melee of acid green and fuchsia jungle prints to fluid pajama shapes, and adding ’90s grunge–influenced plaids and hip-tied shirts to the mix.
When the show got deeper into the night, color intensified: deep purple paillettes, an emerald velvet blazer, a Deco iris print here, a black Lurex tux there. When Van Noten really went for it, Lacroix style, there was a heavily beaded sarong worn with a semi-sheer blouse in a different pattern, opera gloves in another, and snakeskin boots. Equally head-turning: a dress in a violent purple, streaked with silver embroidery.
Of course, Dries Van Noten is a designer many women turn to to get them through the cold light of day. This collection didn’t lose sight of that—he never forgets his wardrobing duties. “You grab the clothes and do your own thing with them. That’s really the idea,” he said.
