School’s Out

When is a seam more than a seam? When it’s inside-out or asymmetrical: these are the signature moves of deconstructionist designers, who make clothes so beautiful that even their insides shine.

The origin of this moment in fashion can be traced back to one city: Antwerp, a regional capital in Belgium, home to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts that churned out six young designers destined to burst onto the international scene in the 1980s. Ann Demeulemeester, Walter van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten, Marina Yee and two Dirks (Van Saene and Bikkembergs) share more than vowel-heavy names; they are all interested in that essence of deconstruction, the idea of “showing process”, or in other words, showing how their clothing designs are actually made.

Often this involves the aforementioned seams; asymmetrical hems are also a favored trope; but the best of these designers have an ability to apply wit to the sometimes overly serious world of fashion. Marina Yee seems to get it just right, altering familiar clothing forms (coat, dress) into marvelous brightly colored hybrids.

But sometimes the process goes less well. The exhibition includes the work of a number of younger Antwerp designers, and let’s just admit it: some of their stuff is truly awful. Bernhard Willhelm’s black evening dress with Michael Jackson’s sequined face especially sticks in the memory, as do Bruno Pieters’s works of incredible frumpery and stiffness.

But Raf Simons’s luxurious black ensembles with frayed edges play on the elegant side of edgy. Veronique Branquinho’s autumnal plaids, along with A.F. Vandevorst’s caramel leather breastplates, would look great on any society matron.