An eerie presentation by Phoebe English for the15th womenswear collection. A white room filled with puppets hanging from the roof in collaboration with Judith Hope. A feel of Parisian couture is instantly established, as the models become living art pieces.
As I stand there and watch, with music by Finbar John Prior lingering in the background, a sense of madness that fills every corner of the clinic white room. The details of the models make up, hint at the idea of voodoo dolls, as do the monochrome, inventive designs. Using the accumulation of marks, patinas and traces of left behind fabric the haunting marionette doll pieces were created. With cotton shirting along side layers of netting, canvas, muslin, fragile transparent tulles and intricate knotting the craftsmanship of the Phoebe English collections is truly highlighted, in her more traditional practices of design.
This presentation allowed us the possibility to re-evaluate the magnitude of what we are saying through the scale of how we say it. As stated in her note Phoebe English used this production to captured the general unrest and general chaos of today’s society that is fading into nothing.
Words: Hetty Appleton-Miles
Images: Rob Parfitt
