London Fashion Week: Faustine Steinmetz

Faustine Steinmetz’s presentations at London Fashion Week are always a personal highlight – she never, ever fails to excite. This season in the ICA was no exception as we entered what appeared to be a construction site with various body parts protruding through holes in the walls. And yes, it looked as weird as it sounds.

As we followed the maze around there was even a pair of legs dangling through the wall showcasing Steinmetz’s signature hand-woven denim jeans but no sign of the top half of the model’s body. Indeed the collection – inspired by Salvador Dali’s transformative works – showcases the models in a distorted style. But despite being more than a little ‘house of horrors’ it was a surrealist dream that was definitely more intriguing than haunting.

This season Steinmetz really took her signature move of turning classics on their head to the next level. Pleated cotton denim worked so finely it resembled knitted ribs, completely reinvented the simple American white tee and blue jeans combo. And thanks to a collaboration with Cotton USA, Steinmetz also focused on abstracting and deconstructing the humble tracksuit. Distorting the silhouette by pleating the grey handwoven cotton to create voluminous sleeves and with joggers cut just a little too short in order to resemble culottes. The all white ‘vegan handbag’ range is slung over arms poking through the walls; a testament to Steinmetz’s sustainability, which is at the core of the British label.

Interestingly, models were numbered in an intricate system as if on a factory lineup, hinting at the influence of American conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth, who took a clinical, purely informative approach to art.

As a relative newbie on the London Fashion Week scene, we can’t wait to see where this lady’s successes take her. Watch this space…

London Fashion Week SS16 runs until 22nd September 2015