Discover Chalayan‘s Resort 2020 The Postcolonial Body womenswear collection, that mixes movement from South American dances with Japanese fertility and abundance ritual enactments dances. The collection is a study of dance and movement, exploring the spirit of enforced joy and protest at the same time.
RESORT 2020 COLLECTIONS
“In this light “The Postcolonial Body” is a study of dance and movement amongst various ethnic groups which have been colonised by Western forces. America and Japan have been the two focus points of inspiration. South America as the example of deeper infiltration of colonial attitudes stemming back to Spanish and Portuguese occupation between the 16th and 19th century, whilst Japan as a much shorter-lived example, but one which has become subject to remarkable consequences, where the economic, cultural, and social landscape has been heavily moulded by the US occupation during 1945-1952.
The structure of the clothes is inspired by drapes mimicking moving bodies from genres which fuse dance of the European immigrants, former slaves and working classes of people, as well as looking at a contemporary dance which instigates a sense of physical discipline and restraint. While the collection is imbued with the above themes, the shapes and surfaces of the Chalayan wardrobe remains wearable and practical. The sartorial wool tailoring punctuated by graphic rope compositions stems from exercises in physical discipline and come in subtle navy stripes, and grey and black check. Classic cotton stripes are mixed in crisp shirting with inserted panelling. Multicoloured stripes in jerseys have a celebratory summer feel, visible at times hidden under layers.“
Images Courtesy of © SPRING London / Chalayan
