Those who know me well are aware of the fact that at multiple crossroads in my life, I've asked myself the question :
"What would Walter do?"
I will not bore you with the subsequent narrative that goes on in my head, but it always boils down to :
"He'd keep it pushing. That's what."
(Side note : I'm not the only one looking up to the W in a slightly boundaryless fashion (cc Carri Munden).)
Yesterday afternoon, Walter Van Beirendonck showed his Fall/Winter 2015 collection near Place Vendôme, the very spot where last October Paul McCarthy's ginormous butt plug/Christmas tree (lol) was vandalized and deflated, prompting the American artist to declare : "[not wanting] to be mixed up in this type of controversy and physical violence, or even to keep taking the risks associated with this work.”
Not our Head Master though, in what is clearly an "I got your back" statement/hommage (collaboration?), Walter - who once famously said (and I'm paraphrasing) : "I don't feel controversial. Everything I do feels normal."- made the McCarthy creation a recurrent item throughout the defilé. The anal accessory for niche markets was sometimes featured as a necklace (it comes in brown too, I seriously cannot stop laughing about this) or beautifully embroidered onto fabrics.
The looks again were impeccable. After more than three decades in the business (2015 marks the 35th anniversary of his graduation from the Antwerp Fashion Academy, which he has been leading for almost 10 years) and with a show named "Explicit Beauty", it is very clear that what is being preached is also very much being practised.
The first silhouette came with the statement : "Stop Terrorising Our World".
I'm already eye rolling to infinity at every publication claiming that it would be a sneer towards any specific religion and that the "our" in this particular sentence would exclude any group of people based on ethnicity, culture or preference. To state this is to not know at all what Walter Van Beirendonck is about. I do think it's safe to say, though, that if you are a bigot or if you send out messages of hate and are in the business of scaring people (that means you too Fox News), you should feel addressed.
What followed were a lot-t-t-t-t-t of looks (according to this article some invitées were complaining. Who though? Can they be deflated?) featuring plastic tunics with oversized merit badges façon de W, gorgeous low-waisted pleated pants, next-level denim jump suits and coats and trousers made entirely out of a Walter woven fabric.
See all the looks below and revel in the Explicit Beauty. Once again the fearless W made my world that much brighter.
I cannot wait to instagram myself wearing an entire look of the above fabric, using the hashtag #VanBeirendonckWeave (which will probs immediately receive a well-deserved #doingtoomuch comment, but look at her not caring).
If the above coat is reversible, Imma faint.
BTW : "Walter Van Beirendonck shoes" has been a trending search term on KNOTORYUS.com since last night. They (and I) want your footwear to make a comeback, Sir!
For everything Walter Van Beirendonck go HERE
