There is no poetry without death.

Text by Riccardo Slavik

‘Such is the role of poetry. It unveils, in the strict sense of the word. It lays bare, under a light which shakes off torpor, the surprising things which surround us and which our senses record mechanically.‘ Jean Cocteau

Once again proving to be the one master of modern couture, John Galliano takes us backstage in the fullest sense of the term, through his thought processes and inspirations for this latest Co-Ed Collection for Autumn-Winter 2020; an ode to the craftsmanship of the atelier, a reflection on the times, on the future of couture, infused with the timeless trope of the eternal balance between decay and beauty. Taking inspiration from classical statues in wet draped garments and the 19th century Italian trend of sculpting female figures with wet veils in Carrara marble, not to mention Galliano’s own infamous 1985 wet muslin looks, and his technique of circular cutting, the couturier sets out to recreate the impalpable folds of wet, transparent, fabric on dry materials, contrasting the softness of the transparent draping with Recicla handpicked, upcycled, vintage menswear staples like jackets and coats. Through screenshots of chatrooms and live zoom meetings we follow the multidimensional array of inspirations that informed the psychedelically hypnotic video Nick Knight has created for the Maison’s digital launch of the collection. From the hedonistic escapism of Steve Strange and the 80s Blitz kids to tragic aristocratic figures, L’Apache – the dramatic lovers’ dance of the fin de siècle- or young zoot suiters arrested for their flamboyant looks and with their clothes torn by the police, the swirling evolution of ideas from a folder of reference pictures to the toiles, the fittings, the muses, the back and forth of creativity that zigzags amongst the talents involved makes for a video that is more of an arresting documentary on the vital work of Fashion than a mere presentation of the atelier’s latest creations. An accidental glitch becomes a comment on decaying, the beauty of a decadent moment, which in turn becomes the basis for the distorted posterized images of Knight’s mesmerizing film. The movement of the models-muses influences the cuts. Technique is applied and shaped, at times forced into unparalleled feats. Galliano’s genius lies in creating from a basis of vast knowledge unhindered by fear. Artisanal, as he explains, is a laboratory, where he can discover techniques and ideas he can then adapt commercially into the main lines, it’s the Factory of The Dream, the dream you will eventually be able to buy into after he’s perfected it and made it accessible.

‘True realism consists in revealing the surprising things which habit keeps covered and prevents us from seeing.‘ Jean Cocteau