Story
august 24, 2015
Text MAREN SERINE ANDERSEN & FREDRIK AUSTAD
Photography COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK
The Farose designer Barbara í Gongini had just presented her SS16 collection beneath the majestic ceiling of Copenhagen City Hall. After a quite dark and theatrical show that to us stood out as the very highlight of this fashion week, mon Dieu met the avant garde designer backstage to talk over what we had just perceived.
“Irises are so lovely, aren’t they.” Gongini smiled as she was introduced to us, draped in dark shaded garments of her own creation. The indigo coloured flowers resting in her arms made out softness as a delicate contrast to her dramatically timeless silhouette and glowing red hair.
The spectacular nature of The Faroe Islands was portrayed in a written introduction of the collection as a cinematically described journey from depths of the sea onto characteristic raw and rocky shores. “The collection is a sequel chained together with previous seasons that alike this one are reflections of the surroundings I grew up in”. On background of the written introduction, mon Dieu clearly recognized the references drawn to the small but rubust archipelago between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean.
As we told about how we speculated during the show on whether or not we spotted fish net on the models the designer smiled and nodded. We also discussed how sculptured hair and wet looks nicely illustrated the rough weather and powerful nature of the Faroe Islands. Something that we really liked was the nice touch of maritime stripes that effectively worked as an uncomplicated and familiar part of the collection that for us functioned like an anchor for the advanced visual experience.
Because of Gongini’s signature that is a conceptual approach towards fashion design, we just had to bring up a tendency of change in the industry that mon Dieu is very happy to recently have learned. We wanted to know the designer’s thoughts when it comes to how fashion these days again embraces runway theatricality as we have discovered how the dramatics that once marked fashion now does a comeback after a long, long time. As we expected, she was very happy that elements like the audible experience of a fashion show and runway choreography now advances more and more. This puts pressure on the designers to create conceptual narratives and makes it harder to get away with just designing pretty or provocative clothes. We agreed on that this tendency gradually lifts the artistic quality of fashion to a higher level and brings back some mystery and the professional pride that surrounded the industry back in the days.
After a long conversation with Gongini, who must have been quite exhausted after the long day, we had one more thing that we wanted to ask her. Tendencies in todays society seems to be presenting an idealistic view of the world where freedom, liberty, and care for the environment are finally getting more attention. It is no coincidence that all of these aspects are to be found in the dark and almost genderless brand that is BARBARA I GONGINI. “It is just so natural to me,” the designer tells us, when we ask her about her focus on the male/female crossover subject.
“I don’t know why people should be treated differently. We often work with homosexual and transsexual models, without trying to make a statement. This is how it should be and I am surprised that it has taken this long for the world to realize».