BEAUTY: Clothing--Walter Van Beirendonck

"Shut Your Eyes To See." This is what Walter Van Beirendonck titled his Fall-Winter '13-'14 collection shown yesterday at Paris Fashion Week. Of this collection, Van Beirendonck said, "The world is so overwhelming that you need to look into yourself. Find your own identity, that's what matters. And you have to protect it."

And Van Beirendonck's stated identity for this collection is none other than the chameleon himself, The Thin White Duke, David Bowie (as an aside, I don't think there is a single person who has inspired more men's wear designers than Bowie). It is obvious in the iconic "Aladdin Sane" lightning bolt in Lurex on sports coats and the glam touches like sparkly suits and platform boots in metallic leather and mustard python (I'll take one in each color please!). Inspired by Bowie, in an abstract way, are the "satellite" ear and hand ornaments ("Space Oddity"), tinsel-fringe embellished jackets, and odd geometric faces on coats and sweaters. But quite oblique--and frankly puzzling-- is the heavy presence of argyle and the "Arthur Dent"-ish bathrobes which closed the show. Perhaps Van Beirendonck associates argyle with the UK (and rightly so since argyle comes from Clan Campbell's tartan design) and thus Bowie's homeland? But how to explain the sad bedsit bathrobes (albeit with Lurex appliqués and satin lining)?

http://www.waltervanbeirendonck.com/
Photos via http://www.style.com/