Taking inspiration from the natural world, the designer explored the empowering potential of sex for S/S19
“I have never shied away from sex in the collections,” Christopher Kane told AnOther Magazine last season. Naturally – an especially apt adverb in this season’s case – Kane’s S/S19 collection was no exception. ‘Sex in Nature’ was the straight-talking title for the designer’s latest London Fashion Week offering and set the tone for an intertwining of two of Kane’s greatest loves: science and sexuality. The former is a beloved reference of his – see the annotated botanical illustrations, the winding double helix of layered chiffon, astronomical prints and wildlife close-ups emblazoned onto collections past for evidence. On this occasion, the mating rituals of wildlife animals – as narrated by David Attenborough on the soundtrack – made for a perfect canvas on which to explore the empowering potential of sex. It follows Kane’s A/W18 collection, an ode to the 70s coffee table tome The Joy of Sex and the result of his desire to “talk about sex in an empowering way... I really wanted to do [the book] justice and for sex to be celebrated and embraced again as a positive thing.” And it makes sense in this new context too, for really, what could be more natural than sex in the wild?
Attenborough’s soothing tones were spliced with those of Marilyn Monroe – a recording of the actress’ thoughts on her own sex symbol status – and deftly mixed by Simon Halsberghe. With such sandwiching, Kane encapsulated his penchant for subversion, as of course did the clothes – obliterating as always the fine lines between the tacky and tasteful, sensual and antiseptic, domestic and glamorous, concealed and exposed. His trademark printed T-shirts bore the slogans ‘Foreplay’ (plus two tussling leopards in a faded, thrift-store ripe graphic), ‘Sexual Cannibalism’ (two praying mantises butting heads – famously, the female of this species devours the male after mating) and ‘Horsepower’ (two glistening steeds rearing wildly). Each is a portrait of animalistic and sexual strength.
As his customers would likely hope, it’s not just casualwear doing the talking. Christopher Kane’s ubiquitous cocktail pieces came complete with lace-panel cladding, redolent of exoskeleton armour, forming bodices, bras and shoulder plates. One such lace panel formed the tongue of a recurrent pointed-toe heel – though stiffened, it waggled as the girls walked. Backstage it went by the name of the ‘praying mantis crotch shoe’, so named as its form was borrowed from a piece of lingerie – essentially a crotch – “made for ladies of the night or strippers”. Sculpted breastplates adorned minimal mini dresses and slinky chainmail gowns alike and followed the swift scoop of a shell, while opalescent chiffons resembled the dark sheen of a scarab beetle’s wing. Gauzy squares of organza were adjoined like platelets into diaphonous dresses, floaty at first glance but fractal upon closer inspection.
On the flipside, sporty sneakers came with coloured spherical heels, reminiscent of a DNA molecule. Trekkie silhouettes were abundant too, in power shouldered coats and tunics, and jackets with sharp, The Jetsons-like lapels. Thick tracks of diamantés served a dual purpose, carving out the trim of space cadet uniforms and highlighting varying states of undress, edging modest high collars, skin-flashing cut-outs and barely there handcuff sleeves. Collectively, his shows form part of an enduring strip tease: Kane has always been drawn to the fluctuating state of getting dressed and the power play that is the choice to reveal or conceal as much as one likes. Straddling sci-fi and sex-shop with the expert balance he is well-known for, the designer offers a world in which women can shape their own pleasure.
