Christopher Kane SS15

Initial reaction:

“Soon after Louise [Wilson] died, we found a box of photos dating back to my time on the MA at Saint Martins. There were pictures of me in Louise's office, of Tammy trying on clothes I was making in my bedroom... Because of those 18 months on the MA, because of meeting and being taught by Louise, I am where I am today," read the show notes at today's Christopher Kane show. This season the designer dedicated his collection to the late Louise Wilson and sought to revisit unseen pieces from his early work. It was clearly a very personal collection for Kane and it seemed only fitting that today's backdrop was the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall with all its grandeur and cultural importance. If you managed to take your eyes off the show for just one moment, you could see the hundreds of members of the public taking a break from the Kazimir Malevich exhibition to witness the collection unfold.

The cult of Kane:

If you're an avid Kane fan you'll remember the impact his early collections had on the fashion world and today's show served as a reminder of just how much he's accomplished in such a short amount of time. But this season wasn't about nostalgia or looking to the past. Yes, certain elements were re-visited – the controlled 'explosion dresses' reworked in tulle and the sweetheart neckline cut out in silk – but it still felt progressive. If you needed any indication, just take a look at the sheer black rope dress that closed the show – pure perfection. 

The starting point: 

"There were dresses that I was making then, things that were not shown, that featured coils, cords and ropes. I decided to revisit them, that simple cord idea sparking other thoughts. There are 'controlled explosion' dresses, with explosions of tulle intrinsic to their structure, like they are about to take off. There are other explosions, where dresses are deconstructed and seeming to fall apart, their boning exposed – these have been developed and grown from really old drawings from that time. We have started to revisit ourselves in our collections; this is something that has changed. Here, we are looking back to our time with Louise, but also looking forward. Finding those pictures from the MA, this collection was meant to happen.” – Christopher Kane.