Womanly Shapes at Dries Van Noten

An often sober looking collection for Dries Van Noten and felt like a bit of a reality check despite flourishes of colour towards the end of the show.

There were safari and military touches which is quite a safe theme to choose for a collection but I suppose these are tough times for a lot of designers and it didn’t matter anyway. What I found more interesting were the womanly silhouettes and the way the clothes were cut.

There was a sort of post-war Digby Morton look to some of the full skirts and curve-defining jackets but it didn’t feel old or nostalgic. The jackets had some beautifully constructed darts that gave a look of ease to a perhaps otherwise imposing look.

With Prada sparking a lot of discussion about women’s bodies (real women’s bodies) and Francisco Costa casting ‘older’ models for Calvin Klein it’s quite funny to see Van Noten do it too. There’s going to be a whirlwind of articles and blog discussions about this by the end of the week.