Walter Van Beirendonck the designer’s strong collection featured new volumes for the house for Fall/Winter 2022 in Paris.
Walter Van Beirendonck’s strong fall collection featured new volumes, especially well-articulated, rounded shoulders, and a different color play.
“It’s a shoulder that you can easily take away — there is a zip inside the coats, and you can really go from a very constructed shoulder into a very deconstructed shoulder,” the designer explained.
˝OtherWorldly˝
There were also elongated, djellaba silhouettes coming with oversize sleeves. And rather than colorblocking, as Van Beirendonck generally does, he worked color-on-color, with looks often in one hue rather than a riot of colors.
A natural experimenter, Van Beirendonck crafted looks with new fabrics, such as a lightweight Neoprene-like material with various layers glued together giving a crocodile effect when used in a garment, like the shiny black, floor-length coat.
“Otherworldly,” the title given to the collection, refers to the strange times we’re living in, but also to the styling of the models in the brand’s fashion film. Each wore a mask. Mostly, these had photos of eyes and sometimes mouths of different people printed on top. The others sported sunglasses, resembling diving goggles, made in collaboration with Komono. Their small collection of sunglasses is slated to be launched commercially next summer.
The film features the models striding through a vast, darkened space lit with light beams. Van Beirendonck described the eerie, alienated vibe as “a little bit ‘X-Files,’ a little bit ‘Close Encounters.’”
Photographed by RONALD STOOPS
Assisted by ROËN LOMMELEN and VADIM CELIS
