from the Chiasmus Archive: "CHRISTOPHER KANE. FALL 2020 READY-TO-WEAR - LONDON FASHION WEEK."

Christopher Kane maintains the intimacy of lingerie as an outwear style for his Fall 2020 collection, holding fast onto the trend that so far is one of the more interesting that evolved late last year.  Allowing his sexually charged previous seasons to be indicative of his desire to sophisticate aspects of sex, utilizing the glamor of women's attire.  He has brought in various amounts of themes, from 1970s sex manuals to making love under the Cosmos, whilst witnessing the brilliance of a star about to go supernova and explode.  Kane has offered a contemporary esoteric view on sexuality, but it also lies more so within his humanist take on its cultist appeal, sex being the metaphor to both life and death.  It was the late and great science fiction writer JG Ballard, who once referred to the universe as the purest form of pornography.

As a society, we have probably settled into a conservative viewpoint of sex, with wayward sensitivities from the left and right trying to galvanize a statement of viewpoints.  The ambiguity of desire and to be desired is still divinely held within the mystique, I feel that Kane channels this in a mature way, not as some garish and cheap backlash.  And of course, his Ready-to-Wear stylizations, show his ability as a skilled designer to portray such an alluring collection.  

In preparation for Kane's Fall RTW styles, he has also drawn from, as an inspiration, the triangular shape, not only seen as sacred geometry, but also as a mathematical symbolism.  Appearing in everyday objects as the shape that maintains the strength and integrity of construction.  So, throughout the looks on display, within their inlays and cuts, there is a reflection of the pyramidal shape. Mostly seen on the more intimate of styles, the overall collection stays forced onto the math symbol as a cult like fixture representing sexuality, in a sleek and poignant way.  It is Kane's most intense styles to date of the said themes.  

From the sheer to the see through via lace and satin combinations, viscose and synthetic blends which can assist in imprinting a variant of pyramid shapes, some suiting styles are offered to break up the main focus of the more revealing looks.  Yet it is the lingerie, that is recut and set onto the majority of styles on display.  Evening wear dresses, stylized into glittering set pieces with the shimmer of silk. There is an ease and flow to this collection, allowing such an open suggestion of desire, but not as revealing as one might think, it still expects the, as mentioned, mystique to play the major role.  As an ornament of desire.  Nature and the Universe might be blunt in its metaphor of destruction and creation.  But as human beings, in our finite time here on Earth, we define the possibilities, without taking them for granted.  Make it more so. 

A beautiful collection from Christopher Kane.       

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(A.Glass 2020)