It’s come up more than once in conversation and in writing these past few days, the speed and manner of the models and its impact on our ability to consider the clothes they are showing. Will she speed, frolic or glide? Will he stop long enough for the photographer to succeed in shooting his ensemble?
The in-house designers of fix gallery (811 E Burnside) avoided all of this by displaying their Fall 05 lines on hangers. Sure, we missed seeing the drape of the garment on a body, but we didn’t have to chase the it down the runway either. On Saturday evening, we had all the time in the world to look over each piece.
Just when we think that one more distressed garment will put us over the edge–particularly when the raw edge is everywhere now from the $17 camisole at the shopping center to the $15,000 couture gown–Genevieve Dellinger’s line Product proves us wrong. She layered a camel-colored fine jersey over a burgundy woven underskirt and cut raw-edged pebble-shaped holes in the jersey that fall and pile up near the hem. For anyone who appreciates, for example, the luxury of a design woven into the fabric rather than printed on, the just-random-enough feeling burgundy pattern created by this hand-cut technique is a treat. And when the roughness of the pattern is contrasted with precise pleating at the waist of the skirt, it becomes the ultimate bridge garment between uptown and down-. We appreciated Dellinger’s cream ribbed sleeveless sweater with its huge cowel neck and her rough-edged canvas bolero. But her show-stopper was a heavy gold/mustard silk skirt with a wide sash that had volume sans crinoline thanks to its thick, fabulous fabric. The frayed-hem skirt held its shape like a refined version of a giant upside down grocery bag to terrific effect.
Don Jones creates his own copper and gold infused textile inks with which he silkscreens the most delicate and incredibly detailed feathers, cobwebs, and lacy seaweed onto rough-n-ready reclaimed sweatshirts, hoodies, and tattered t-shirts. It’s an intentional infusion of beauty into the cast-off and weary garment.
As we’ve noted before, Hazel Cox’s jewelry is exquisite, grounded with the delicacy and gunmetal shades of the fine jewelers steel (iron and zinc) chains and thin-wire loops she often employs, combined with beads and chunks of coral, rough amythest, an apple-green turquoise, mother-of-pearl, and the tiniest hexagonal gold beads. New to our eyes were the radiant peacock colors of the beetle wings, and the subtle colors of the sea-urchin spines. Always, her designs employ space with lengths of chain or wire intervening between and providing a counterpoint to the solidity of the stone (or shell). She’s now flirting with a delicious randomness in spacing on some of her longer necklaces.
Go see.
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