Growl fun

Walter Van Beirendonck FW14
By Tempe Nakiska | 15 January 2014
Photography Harry Carr

There’s a special kind of thrill that comes from a Walter Van Beirendonck collection. The Belgian designer has been putting his own, very particular stamp on fashion since the early 1980s, warping our traditional notions of clothing in every sense. Yesterday he was at it again.

Primary colours instantly flooded the runway, cast across what began as deconstructed suiting and progressed into typically alien Van Beirendonck silhouettes. The full pants that walked initially quickly spiralled into graphic leggings, with fluffy tights and onesies matched with beast-like shorts and, in one instance, a furry canary yellow coat. It was a far departure from the more refined feel SS14 charged.

Put simply? It was back to wild, Van Beirendonck fun.

A Van Beirendonck collection isn’t complete without a political message snaking its way across the threads and here it was clear: toy soldier-esque hats bore feathered headdresses with the message “Stop Racism” and “Growl”. An aesthetically simple message yet complex in reality, a trick as deceiving as his designs.

GALLERYBackstage images from Walter Van Beirendonck FW14

GALLERYCatwalk images from Walter Van Beirendonck FW14





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