Dries van Noten

Dries Van Noten – Inspirations

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Next week I am going to Paris for a few days. Except from the makeup fair “Make up in Paris” that i am going to I have to go and see Dries Van Notens exhibition.
For his exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten has drawn on the museum’s collection to surround his clothes with artworks that inspire him – the geometric abstractions of Victor Vasarely, the expressionism of Kees van Dongen and bourgeois portraits of Jacques-Emile Blanche. From collection to collection and from season to season, painting, sculpture and photography show their influence on Van Noten’s work, echoed in forms and colours.
However, Van Noten is not content with just presenting his work – instead, he has created a finely compartmentalised world on the model of a Renaissance ‘cabinet of curiosities’, bringing together images, fabric and found objects in themed cabinets (‘butterflies’, ‘Orientalism’, ‘Gold’ and so on). There’s a liberal exchange between fashion, painting, sculpture, cinema, fauna, flora and crafts. In a similar way, Van Noten’s creations are in some ways reflections of our age – rather than inventing new expressions, they are made up of what they find by looking to other times, places and peoples – the 1950s, military uniforms, Spanish bullfighters, ’60s hippy chic, Bollywood, punk and more.

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MARGIELA AT BUKOWSKIS

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One designer that inspire me enormous is Margiela. I have seen exhibitions with Margiela in other countries during the years, but this time is the first in Sweden.

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Along with Ann Demeulemester and Dries van Noten, the Belgian Martin Margiela is often described as a deconstructivist. Stepping away from the uniform-like concept of ‘dressed for success’ he embraces fabrics that are turned inside out, seams that are revealed and, above all, no visible logos.
Martin Margiela graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) in 1979, and a few years later began working for Jean Paul Gaultier. He made his debut in 1989 with a tacit, but very clear message: old is new, low is high (holding fashion shows in a Salvation Army depot and a metro station), reusing clothes from earlier seasons. Another notorious act is his refusal to sign his creations. The white (empty) label of the fashion house is a legendary statement which shifts the focus from the lonely creator-genius to fashion as a collective process.

Bukowskis is now presenting an exhibition that showcases a unique collection of pieces by Maison Margiela – some thirty originals from the most revolutionary collections of the 1990s. Works of great collecting value and are coveted by private collectors as well as museums throughout the world.