Entering the Eckhaus Latta AW17 show space – a brightly lit, pastel-toned salon, guests might have been reminded of their Los Angeles store. A study of muted Angeleno tones, the store could not have been more different, but somehow it was as if it had been given a New York facelift to keep up with the frenetic city. The dated yet glamorous beauty posters on the wall were the Eckhaus Latta woman in a future imagined in the 80s. It was like a spa in space, but sometimes there’s comfort in the strange.
Minnie Bennett’s VHS video further reveals that. We see models including Alexandra Marzella, Julian Klincewicz, India Salvor-Menuez, Michael Bailey Gates and Dazed cover photographer Collier Schorr in the designer's meditation on serenity and ease. In greys and pastels, they sent skirts out that looked unbuttoned, shrunken, woolly jumpers, and satin pants which you could imagine might feel cool against your thigh. Their casting, as is their way, felt like watching a family gathering on the runway.
Or, a cult. Colin Self’s sung soundtrack was reminiscent of Los Angeles’ self-realisation centres. His low cries and murmurs gave proceedings and even more surreal air; as we watched Schorr amble down the runway to his crooning, outside the wind howled. No doubt there was a cocktail party somewhere.
How lovely to be invited into Eckhaus Latta’s quiet world; how good you’d feel in a floral padded jacket; how I’d like to have someone paint my back in a delicate floral. Their press release revealed a darker sentiment to the clothes, however: “HOW DO YOU FIND YOURSELF? / AN ACCOUNTABLE PERSON / MELANIA AND KAREN, JUST SLIDE THE PILLOW OVER THEIR FACES AND PUSH AS HARD AS YOU CAN.”
The designers stopped working after the election and restarted in January. Perhaps this wasn’t a peaceful world they envisioned but one of apathy; even of death. “IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED” both their closing dress and words said. No, not really. As the models filed out up the stairs, I wanted to go with them.
