Ann Demeulemeester AW13

"I really was trying to make something what I think is right for today and for tomorrow and what we need. I need poetry, I need youth, I need a wonderful dream and then I need strength," declared Demeulemeester after a show that wasn't necessarily laden with a theme, but instead communicated a strong sense of self – Demeulemeester's self in this case. The ethereal white dresses, which trailed the floor, waxed poetry and a dreamlike state – the sort of romanticism that Demeulemeester knows like the back of her hand. White eased into the more grounded black through dip-dyed chiffon and gradiated fringing. We were then phased into sturdier territory with inky black layers that were part poetic, part militant, sometimes shored up with leather breastplates, giving us the strength that we needed. It was a duality that Demeulmeester is well versed in but summed up by the addition of the solid bowler hats, from which feathered silver pins hovered in the air ever so. 

Faithful to her go-to fave soundtrack of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (she described him as a "soulmate" of sorts backstage), the words "She was a catch/We were a match/I was the match" rang around the room, sounding as potent as ever.