Flutterings in the Night

Inspired by creatures of the night, the Antwerp-based Christian Wijnants uses delicate layering and frayed silks to create intricate fur-like textures for his latest collection, Field of Wisteria and Peace. Draped dresses with speckled prints resemble the wings and feathers of white owls, while shredded scarves are like fox tails. Informed by the Japanese-born, French-based artist Leonard-Tsuguharu Foujita, who – along with his animal portraits – was best known for his female nudes, Wijnants uses soft, sheer fabric to remind us of female skin. A distinctively feminine collection, the Belgium designer’s S/S10 line celebrates the graceful nature of both animal and woman, conveyed in these images shot by photographer and video artist Camille Vivier.

Dazed Digital: What was the concept behind your S/S10 collection?
Christian Wijnants: I was inspired by the Japanese-French artist called Leonard-Tsuguharu Foujita. He lived and worked in Paris and was inspired by cats, and he also did a lot of portraits of mysterious women. My selection of colours through to my choice of materials, were all based on his work.

DD: Can you tell us about your use of prints and texture for the collection?
Christian Wijnants: I experimented a lot and tried to create something like feathers and fur but with fabric.  We worked with small pieces of printed and different types of fabric and then frayed them to create little fringes that gave the effect of fur. It looks furry but it also looks like feathers, so the combination worked well. The inspiration came from cats and owls but also other types of birds.

DD: How would you describe your style?
Christian Wijnants: I like to work poetically. Sometimes it’s based on an artist or a novelist or any type of inspiration that is touching me. But I work quite sensitively so I guess my style is refined, poetic, sensual and feminine. I like women to be natural, that people stay authentic and true to themselves. I don’t like fashion when it’s too highly sophisticated, when there’s too much effort to create a silhouette.   

DD: What was it like working with Dries Van Noten?
Christian Wijnants: It was a great experience. I enjoyed it a lot. Each season he does something different and so each collection we worked on different things. Also, Dries is very successful, his collections are worldwide, so it’s a very creative house but on the other hand they are also very strong on business. So as a young designer it was a perfect school to see the reality of business and fashion.

DD: What else inspires you?
Christian Wijnants: It can be a lot of things. I usually don’t look so much at fashion history or at older collections or older designers. I go looking for inspiration in museums or books, by travelling.  Some seasons it’s something very concrete, like this collection, but other seasons it more like a feeling I want to express in the clothing.

DD: What are you working on at the moment?
Christian Wijnants: At the moment I’m making the new winter collection. It’s a nice time of the year because I’m working on the inspiration and doing research. It’s a moment where you don’t really know exactly what you want but you have some ideas in mind and you’re trying to reflect them on paper. It’s a moment of searching, where anything is possible.

DD: What can we expect from you in the future?
Christian Wijnants: Well I hope to develop my menswear line. Last year, I started to do some menswear sweaters just for knit wear so I want have more and more styles in the future.