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I begin by looking into a Film Noir classic, The Maltese Falcon (1941) starring Americas very own Humphrey “Bogie” Bogart; a style icon, a film that was his breakthrough as a leading man, the first major film noir of the classic era and a time of very influential fashion.
I am drawn to their offer of an alternate reality in black and white, the grit and grime of a dubious plot in crime.
Film Noir, most powerful and abstract of all classic Film styles, yet as soon as you recognize its outlines that define its allure they are gone, like the dissipation of well-formed smoke rings.
Noir, that black and white dream world populated with “grey” characters and their slippery half-truths. A world of shadow seemingly no different than the regular world on its surface except that when suddenly you find you are in it, escape is almost impossible.
Maltese Falcon was as good for its stylish wardrobe as it was for its riveting script and excellent “noir” photography.
I focused on “Bogie” for inspiration in the mood of Maltese Falcon. Concentrated on menswear of that era to draw out a collection for women.
To almost re-invent a classic for me would mean going to the depths of it. I decided to strip apart a classic men’s blazer and work with its skeletal system to help me play with a fresh and new perspective. Like surgery, deconstruction was going to the bones and flesh of a classic taken apart only to be put back together in a new way.
In the layers and seams now visible in various ways I thought of pleats and the sculpting of the shoulder and lapel distressed and polished together; an almost inside out feel. As I began development I felt deeper the mood of this collection. The numerous layers to characters and the shrouding of a deeper truth than is visible to the naked eye.
In my clothes I worked towards illustrating a sense of awakening for a woman from the shadow of a man. I want femininity and romanticism to peek through the wall of structure and tailoring of menswear; almost like oozing it’s way out to be its own.
In my research I looked to Marlene Dietrich, androgynous and yet extremely sexy, brash and gutsy, classic and always new, as a way to unwrap my very own woman – sift through the clues to solve my very own private investigation.