It was choreographed madness at Opening Ceremony’s SS16 show.

Graceful Fall

Opening Ceremony are ceaseless innovators, always keen to play with the conventions of fashion and do things in their own witty and subversive way – see their Kodak print sweatshirts from the last AW collection that were probably one of the more literal manifestation of a designers “inspiration” ever (the photographs of Spike Jonze). Their boldest move this time was to turn that inevitable faux pas of the catwalk show, a model falling over, into a choreographed display. Yep, first models fell, then they danced, revealing that some of those walking were actually from the New York City Ballet.

Tongue-In-Cheek

So far, so Opening Ceremony. But the clothes weren’t bad either. The rustling fluidity of fringed skirts (fabricated in blue and white checkerboard as well as plain black) were well demonstrated by the show’s dynamic physicality, while the designers’ playful side was, as always, present in black coats and trousers with eye-catching yellow prints. In particular, jumpers with felt-like flowers stitched all over them seemed like a typically ironic take on what constitutes covetable knitwear.

Architectural Precision

Icon of American architecture Frank Lloyd Wright was supposedly an inspiration, so it wasn’t all bright colours and tongue-in-cheek exhibitionism: much of the collection consisted of restrained, neutral pieces like elegantly cut trousers with belted waists or a tonal check dress with a fringed hem. Silky black ensembles with pyjama style trousers shimmered starkly against the lush green garden that was the demonstration’s backdrop – in fact, nature found itself printed directly onto the clothing with a tree motif appearing on crewneck dresses and a t shirt. This gift-shop tree print aside though, the most memorable pieces were probably short coats in blue or orange with large metallic buttons (a recurring feature throughout the collection) and a large rounded collar. A well-considered mix of the silly and the serious is Carol Lim and Humberto Leon’s calling card, and this time was no exception.

Words: Benji Walters