Aganovich. Couture 2020 - Paris Fashion Week

(Images from the designer and the public domain. Credited to the photographer/company where applicable: WWD)

One of the most interesting designers to grace the Paris runways in a long time would be Nana Aganovich, there is a humility, whether intentional or not, in her presence as a fashion designer.  Born in Belgrade, Serbia, she studied at the famed Central Saint Martins in London, where she met her parter Brooke Taylor, who  is also part of the Aganovich brand.  Establishing an intense uniqueness of Couterian styles, which may sound paradoxical to the mystique of the Aganovich aesthetic.  But the intensity maybe reflective of the deep relationship she has with her partner, as the duo set about to create a design practice under Aganovich's signature branding.  Revealing their first Couture show in 2011 under the watchful eye of Didier Grumbach, who, being a silent force within the fashion industry, was the former chairman of Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.  Stepping down as chairman in 2014, which is important to note, particularly in reference to the newer fashion brands embracing Couture over Ready-to-Wear and fast fashion.  Grumbach's protective overview of Couture, was to encourage designers to display what they've already sold to their prospective buyers, as a way of maintaining the exclusivity of their collections.  The idea, which makes sense, is to offset the prying eyes of fast fashion 'scouts' – who study fashion shows to ramp up the copying process.

So, in respect to the expectation of quality verses quantity and the invigorated aspects of very stylized idealisms under the Aganovich brand, they have been consistently showing at Paris Couture for the past nine years and in 2017 taking a sabbatical from fashion in a momentary pause to reestablish the brand's purpose and direction.  Their 2020 Couture collection has brought back its appeal and their love of the avant garde, more so Aganovich's and Taylor's affair of a Gothic surreality in all of its styled expression.  As a way of constituting the brand's exotic concepts, they have maintained a surreal temperament titling their latest collection “In Praise of Shadows”.  

It is a divinely eerie affair, displaying an ensemble of the spectra's of past and present.  The setting is so well captivated, with no backing music, just the stillness and meditation of phantoms walking between parallel time-lines, passing through the slivers of reality, that neither has a beginning or an end.  Delicately layered satin, pinched and hemmed so that dresses are enveloped into its dark sensuality, the faces of the models covered with veils – adding to the profusion of the collection.  The rippled charm of silk organza, ruffled and crimped into textured styles, creating the wraith like fixture. Embracing the Stygian, Aganovich and Taylor's collection holds a striking imprint, with hand painted prints of inverted roses and ghost like hands reaching upwards, both seen on separate dresses.  The silhouettes and fits are spectacularly orchestrated portrayed in its Couture resonance, the invisible seams and contouring of form, have been maintained - which is the discipline of fine tailoring.  

A stunning collection.