Throw your knickers in the bin for Anthony Vaccarello SS16, hip-slits and minis galore.
Talking Body
Anthony Vaccarello’s work unabashedly explores the sexual. Quoted in French Vogue as saying ‘less is not enough, and more is too much’, the designer’s SS16 collection did not stray so far from this ethos. Opening with hard-leather and rivet-fastened mini-skirts and jackets in moss green or black, and moving into barely-there crisp white shirts which exposed the entire back, side and chest, before finishing with knicker-less hip-slit skirts in black and grey jersey, it would take a bold wearer to carry this collection off. After a degree in sculpture, and some time working at the helm of the Fendi fur house, Vaccarello is really focusing on the exposure of the female body. The designer has really achieved the perfect view of what men think women should dress like, how perfect this is politically is another question entirely.
Early Noughties Now
With everything always harking back to the nineties or earlier, so often the stylistically iconic period of the early noughties is forgotten about. Remember the days of white baggy-but-tight dresses and up-all-night trance courtesy of Alice Deejay? Well Vaccarello brought them back. Halter-neck, slimline silky dresses and tops in white or black, had shiny blue or red dots in the form of a glamorous-face appliquéd across their entirety (the face of the designer’s muse Anja Rubik to be precise). Sheer black dresses and shirts glittered with rectangular-mirror beads, certain to pull attention in the darkest of parties. Think Keira Knightley up in the club in Bend it Like Beckham – but in the most amazing way.
Fantasy Fabrics
But it’s Vaccarello’s fabric use that is where the real skill lies here. It is so rare to see jersey or denim or white cotton tailored to look so high-end. Beautifully crisp shirts, with swirling patterns twisted down the arm, or were gathered at the naval with large silver rings. Jersey skirts clung and fell fluidly from the waist perfectly, while blue jeans were high-waisted and marvelously form-fitting. As the creative director of Versus Versace, the Italian-Belgian designer really added some Italian fire to the first day of the PFW Schedule.
Photographer: Thurstan Redding
Words: Tom Rasmussen