A reductionist act. A stress on materiality that brings the silhouette into full focus. A reduced colour palette too, based on the materials, and how they react to light.
Parchment, velvet, copper, steel, leather, satin, wool: the same materials used by, or depicted by old master painters. The same angel wings, too. Capturing a moment and a movement in real time, using traditional means in non-traditional ways.
Shapes are molded, bended, frozen, tailored. A line is drawn, a fold is caught. A statement on pieces—the coat, the trench coat, the shaved shearling coat, the cardigan, the crewneck top, the slim suit—and undergarments. Oversized bags, round-toed boots and lace-ups. The contour, and what fills it. The Puzzle Tote bag introduces a supple new expression of the iconic Puzzle shape.
The interest in old mastery is triggered and mirrored in the dialogue with American artist Julien Nguyen (b. 1990). Nguyen’s use of copper and vellum as a base for paintings, his combination of traditional media including oil, tempera, gesso, encaustic and silverpoint, guides the choice of materials, while his visual references to early Renaissance painting and science fiction define the iconography of the collection, powering the reductionist act.
