Dries van Noten F/W 2010-2011

Dries van Noten's fall collection spoke wonders to me, offering a fantastical distraction from a world of confusion.

After watching a behind the scenes video, I discovered that van Noten used a song from Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo called "Scene d'amour". This is somewhat fitting since Vertigo (although I have not seen it, my mom has described it to me) is about a man who finds himself involved with a woman that has seemingly split personalities- her identity is not concrete.

This made me want to look into the elements of the show. There is a strange, lonely element of the runway; although the surroundings are warm and well decorated, it is still very large and in many ways, very impersonal. The models are introduced in fairly conservative clothing, their heels clicking coldly on the hardwood floors as if there is nothing around them to absorb the sound. They are all alone. The soundtrack, as beautiful as it is, has an annoying shouting dubbed over it, making it hard to concentrate on what is going on around you. About halfway through the show, the shouting subsides, and the strings completely take over. It is at this moment that the designer starts to introduce bright color- the conservative elements begin to fade away and floral patterns flood the eye.

I thought of this change of color and personality as an escape from the confusing world around us. The woman no longer has a conflicting identity crisis as she did at the beginning of the show, where she had to cover up her true colors with plain jackets, coats and puffy skirts. In this moment of clarity, devoid of shouting (you can finally hear yourself think!) van Noten's woman is unafraid to just "be". It is less an act of defiance as it is an honest communication with one's inner self.

I think it's important to note that van Noten is a gardener, so it is quite likely that his idea of a "natural state" is one of floral prints and earth tones.

But enough about what I think... what do you think? I have friends that were not a fan of this collection at all, saying it was "boring" and "uninventive". Personally (if you couldn't tell), I thought it was brilliant.