Dice Kayek Haute Couture SS15
Through the doll-eyed makeup on the models, or perhaps actual life-sized dolls, the inspiration from Dice Kayek's SS15 'The Dollhouse' collection was pretty evident. In the real world, models are, as I'd imagine, described as 'pretty dolls' fairly often... but these models look as if they just walked out of a dollhouse and you can just tell that there is something about the way they walk. The inspiration for the collection was heavily drawn from the hypersexual and distorted drawings of doll sculpture artists; sketches that even portrayed models that were physical unconscious from the German artist Hans Bellmer, the Pikes of visual artist Annette Messager and the fetish dolls of Louise Bourgeois.
The simple element of hand-stitching in dolls were kept and incorporated into the couture collection; alternating between construction and deconstruction. Among the collection, the pink structured crepe dress stood out along with the deconstructed white silk dress. There's drama in the sleeves, for sure. The Turkish couture house of sisters Ece and Ayse Ege opted for mini dresses with puffy sleeves (rather than the more conventional embellished, lengthy, voluminous gowns). To me, it is as if a bespoke tailoring request was received from a modern day princess because you have to be someone special to wear the mid-sleeve rouge dress, or the black embellished gown with armour gemstone shoulder pads.
The duo perfected what the public wanted in terms of desirability. 'It's very wearable,' a woman exclaimed her content for the collection when the lights came on after the show, 'and that's very unusual for haute couture.' From assymetrical jackets and dresses, to geometric-cut, multi-layer dresses, there's variety in the collection.
Even in heavier fabrics like leather and thick silk, colour was not spared. But embellishments and embroidery were generally avoided except for the tetris dress with multicolor patchworks. It's a unique and brave approach, with all looks accompanied with a pair of sky-high mary janes. I really liked how the designer picked out the 'bad' (or the freakiness and tough/ugly side of being a doll) in the fetish dolls and evolved the 'good' to make something fantastic... the pretty, innocent side. It's an attempt to preserve the fusion of juvenile purity and mature fetishism. The soundtrack of the finale, Tori Amos' 'Leather', seemed to be the perfect soundtrack as it dug into the eeriness and innocence of the models… or dolls… or models. Either way, I'm hypnotized.
To be continued… #tbc
