Dancing In The Dark
Fall/Winter 2011
"I was always alone, so I just let my imagination work. I constantly tried to create beauty around me. I had this sort of secret world in my head that didn't correspond to the environment in which I was. I was constantly dreaming. I still am."
- Ann Demeulemeester
I have found myself looking through the current season of offerings from Ann Demeulemeester on quite a few occasions now. I see, I go over, I touch, I look, I feel, I see something beautiful. The clothes stay where they are, but at the same time they stay inside my mind, dancing in the darkness. And so I find myself returning to them, reacquainting myself with them, as if we have long been friends. But as I have been there, my eyes have been drawn each time to the other rail.
The way the light sinks deep into black fur, finding a core of pure darkness. And yet simultaneously it is as if that light has somehow been captured, rolling fluidly across the surface of that soft fur, encircling it in a warm embrace. I see an intricate threading of lace through leather, a corset undone, its soft and pliable form belying its supposed function. There is a belt, a bandoleer, loaded with black feathers, ammunition made to caress. Leather, fur, silk, an almost primal sensuality. I see a woman trying a piece on and in that moment she is not transformed, but rather something already within her is realized. It is truly magical to behold.
xxxx