(images via vogue)
hmm. okay, so if the theme at opt is honesty time (when isn’t it, but whatever), i must once again admit when i’m not necessarily the best choice for delivering a capable, honest, and objective review. my logic here is that although i’ve tried to say (and, indeed, see) some good things in the romance was born collections (see s/s 2010 & s/s 2011) that sashay their way down the rosemount australian fashion week catwalks in sydney, i’m just not convinced i’m able to completely appreciate it all. i ultimately often find that designers anna plunkett and luke sales are trying too hard to be all kitsch-meets-‘aren’t we artsy!?’. but that’s just me, and other reviewers, like, suck it down without stopping to chew. so maybe we should just let them take it away, non?
oh. but before i shut myself down forever, i do want to stress that i don’t believe the designers are utterly untalented, or that opt isn’t able to see objectively some of the time. it’s simply that their work isn’t really to my personal taste, and i’m not sure i’m able to do it justice in the proper form. that, and i’m frankly bloody sick of sites ‘reviewing’ and ‘discussing’ either fashion lines, collections, or single outfits without any shred of understanding or objectivity on the matter. and if one doesn’t get it, they probably oughtn’t call it ‘fug’. gah. of all things on the planet, i wish that term could be wiped from my memory first. please. there are so many better choices. but where were we?
so! with that, let’s hear what the others are yammering on about! first off, the typically ecstatic fab sugar wrote that “(t)he Romance Was Born design duo love pushing creative boundaries…[and the collection] lacked none of the theatrics that they’re known (and loved) for. The inspiration came from comic book heroes, resulting in a super-saturated collection filled with punchy graphics done with plenty of kitsch and a lick of humour. Skirts were architectural, peplums were origami-like in construction and shoulders exagerated. It was bright, it was bold, it was fun! The play with prints was especially skilled, resulting in optical-illusion shifts in monochrome and a particularly zingy yellow and black pantsuit. Wearable, it was not — but RWB doesn’t design for the everyday.”
meanwhile, vogue reflected that “(i)t was all there in the capelet and skirt in matching paillettes, the op-art bodysuiting, the sparkly peplum silhouettes, the candy/cartoon colours, the make-up and hair…But there was also the simplicity of a white cotton shirt dress printed with a bulging torso, as well as a sinister insectoid edge that echoed the mutant element of superheroism: the wings of a cicada referenced in fine gold netting, a beetle’s wings evoked by the glossy black folds of a skirt. It was that kind of throw-away effect that kept the collection from kitsch literalism….Still, a Romance Was Born production is never going to be an exercise in subtlety. You could imagine the Marvel execs coming away impressed by the special effects. At the same time, you could wonder what would happen if the designers tempered the excess, applied all that florid, fantastic technique to the creation of something more straightforward. Discipline a superpower, and you’ll usually get more from less.”
and the vine stated that “(t)he shapes of the show referenced the golden days of comic books, where women played femme fatales with strong square shoulders (made speedy through a subtle racer front in some instances), cinched little waists and full hips poured into wriggly pencil skirts. The curviness of the comic book physique was emphasised with peplums and body conscious pieces like a skin-tight all in one…Referencing the civvies of comic book girls was a clever move as it took some of the potential silliness away from the show…Ultimately, this was a very commercial collection and was so much the better for that. The quirks in the production injected theatricality, but the clothes themselves were just that, clothes. Not crazy, crafty demi-couture that hinted at genius with a glue gun, but elegant, wearable pieces with enough of a weirdo-twist to still feel fun.”
meanwhile, the australian site daily life described how “(f)irst up is a silk shirt with the print of a rather muscular gentleman’s torso, followed by a series of black and white graphic prints spliced with spots and zig zags on uneven hemmed silk shirt dresses, jumpsuits and capelets. As the city keeps exposing its secrets a yellow and black bumblebee stripe emerges on leggings (only for the brave) and jackets. It’s enormously fun. But the fun is just beginning, because then the colour and the sequins and the pop-art graphics are sashaying down and they’re wiggling with vibrancy and movement. The capelets and padded cocoon style jackets might be trickier to pull off but they look spectacular….The finale is a gold applique dress, and as the models come out for their final walk, it is a riot of colour, sequins and prints.”
and finally, regarding the show’s (predictably ostentatious) beauty looks, bella sugar described how the label veered into “superhero style with neon orange mullets, plastic eyebrows and nine different nail designs. The ghd hair team, led by Alan White, was relatively relaxed backstage as most of the work (the dye process and cutting of the wigs) has been done already. Makeup was a little more frantic as the look, which lead artist Natasha Severino (MAC) described as ‘superhero and otherworldly with a sexy modernist twist,’ required a graphic winged eye, plastic brows and false lashes” (see additional show images at my empirical life & paperform).
(check out the collection video here)
oneporktaco 