Fashion shows tend to work on just a couple of the senses, but Dorhout Mees added one: smell. All the pieces in the show had their own scent. That might strike you as a bit odd, but the story behind this collection is truly magnificent.
Fashion in real time
“The inspiration for this collection is a poetry book from 1800. I recently inherited this from my great-grandmother, it’s filled with sincere time, effort, love, poetry and handmade landscapes, drawings, silver and gold,” Mees wrote. She compared this to the time we live in now, and the contrast there seems to be, seeing as creativity is becoming sparse and our time seems to slip away. Nostalgically, she turned the book into a collection: “I’ve translated the individual cards – where this book is made up from – to wearable pages”. Adding scents is a brilliant touch ’cause there is no sense as strong in remembrance as smell. She called the collection La Belle Époque.
Everybody who has seen Woody Allens ‘Midnight in Paris’ is now probably thinking about gorgeous Marion Cotillard wearing those dresses, saying how she wants to live in La Belle Époque. The hair from the models was similar, braided, and the make-up was all about blush.
Some of the clothes made it seem like the model was inside a page, captured in a moment
The colours ranged from black and white to grey, reds, pinks (I guess we know what we’ll be wearing next year!) and the occasional flower print which was also inspired by the book. The pieces were ladylike, as they always are, but not girly. It was like a nostalgic, flower child, mixed with a power woman. Maybe a bit of Dorhout Mees herself? Some of the clothes made it seem like the model was inside a page, captured in a moment.
If this is what the era looks like today, I would like to spend some time in there too. Last year, I wrote that if Tinkerbell would be a real person, she’d probably wear Dorhout Mees. This time is no different; not that Peter Pan’s little friend would wear it again, but the fact that everything seems like it walked straight out of a Disney tale. Honestly, I love a good story, flower prints and a staggering décolleté, so the collection was right up my street. (Mark my words: Victoria Koblenko will wear a piece of the collection sooner or later.)
Photos by Beata Fortuna.
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