From the chiasmus archive: February 17, 2020. "PREEN BY THORTON BREGAZZI. FALL 2020 READY-TO-WEAR - LONDON FASHION WEEK."

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

Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi, who had previously utilized the Venice Frieze Biennial in 2019 to formulate the basis for the Pre-Fall 2020 collection, have kept in tune with the vision of couture inspired Ready-to-Wear collections with the recent Fall styles for London Fashion Week.  Maintaining their collaborative brand Preen by Thorton Bregazzi, they have sourced, for their recent inspiration, a very interesting movie that was released in 1972 called “Don't Look Now”. Directed by Nicolas Roeg from the short story of the same name written by Daphue du Maurier, the British novelist.  There was a sweet spot between the end of the 1960s and the early 70's of psychological thrillers that involved couples, Don't Look Now is considered to be one of the finest.  With Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie playing the married couple, who after their daughter's death, Sutherland's character is offered a job to restore a church in Venice.  The crux of the story involves the supernatural, even if appears to be metaphysical, it is the psychological and its manifestation of not allowing grief to follow its course.  What the overall feel of the movie reflects is an open experimentation of stylizing the relevancy of the couple, although their attire is what you would expect as a reflection of the intellectual aesthetics that was a 70's ethos.  The film does however have an explicit sex scene, which to this day is still queried over whether it was simulated or not. 

So, both Thornton and Bregazzi have referenced the tweed suiting looks, seen on Sutherland's character, from the mentioned movie, as an overall prudishness could be considered a prelude to the sexual tension that resides beneath the noetic attire.  The straight laced sensibilities, which also hold a darker resonance.  Possibly Thornton and Bregazzi are experimenting, in a visual way, how the tinges of stress can develop over time, to which married couples have to endure, once the reality of sharing and attempting to understand each others emotions becomes a burden.  

From the herringbone and tweed conservative styles, the collection shifts back and forth between the spectral desirability of lace and satin, viewed as dinner and cocktail dresses. Whilst offering a romanticism to this collection, with its layered and prestigious forms, despite the 1970s references, it is offering an unrestrained idealism of a couples wardrobe, she maintains the glamor in light of the tensions that exist.  Eventually overshadowing, through a period of retrospection, the formal styles to reveal the need to start anew.        

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(A.Glass 2020)