METAPHYSICAL DREAMS

Dover Street Market is high-end concept store situated on London’s Dover Street in Mayfair. Created by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons, the store feels more like a gallery than your regular fashion retail space. There is an eclectic mix of designers showcased here with styles ranging from minimalist to theatrical.

My inspiration came from the artist Giorgio de Chirico, whose work I first came across in Philadelphia. I was instantly struck by his dreamlike cityscapes with their toxic skies and empty piazzas in his ‘Metaphysical’ period. Metaphysical literally means beyond the physical and so can be interpreted here as beyond reality – a dream or imaginary world.

Features such as shadowed arcades fading into darkness, the contrast between light and dark, the past and present and a lone statue in the middle of the deserted square are seen in most of the paintings of this type. These statues are a reference to Chirico’s Greek nationality. The figure most often depicted is that of Ariadne, mistress of the Labyrinth in Greek mythology.

It was from these features I took most of my inspiration. The garments are simple, clean and minimalistic like the smooth stone of the statues. The simplicity of the garments relates to the air of mystery, and the unknown in the paintings. Colours have been taken directly from the paintings, mustard yellow, blood orange, teal and stone. The compact colour and fabric range enable the collection to effortlessly mix and match.

Velvet, wool and duchesse satin fabrics are luxurious and high-end befitting Dover Street Market’s market. The target market for this collection would be strong, confident women who are believe in fantasy and mystery and are aged between 25 and 50.