From whom I take inspiration
There are all kinds of different challenges to being a designer: communicating with clients to extract the perfect brief to suit their needs; or refining a collection so that it carries a strong single theme all the way through; or even directing an art department to find the perfect print campaign to sell a collection. However, recently I had a short break from all those stressful challenges when a client, Maria Osborne, asked me to design a winning dress for the Punchestown Races Best Dressed Award. Maria had already won the award in 2012, but she had no idea what theme she ought to go for this year.
When I was thinking about it I decided to do something which would celebrate a true inspirational design for me: Karl Lagerfeld ––who had only recently passed away, but his legacy at Chanel, for over the almost forty years of his tenure there, can never fade.
Karl’s penchant for Post-Modernism ––which values an ironical use of pastiche–– has always brought an irreverence to his work at Chanel; being at once traditionally in the Chanel mode, but at the same time having a tongue-in-cheek insolence towards its traditional elitist values of bourgeois chic.
I decided that the whole assemble had to be black and white as Karl, with his white ponytail and black clothes, became famous for his use of this iconic stark juxtaposition; itself a pastiche on traditional asceticism, but in his hands it became decadent in intent.
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| Maria on the right |
I decided also to play with the Chanel use of braid, using stark black over near white cream A-line skirt.
I really enjoyed providing Maria with her winning piece and it was topped perfectly with a Philip Treacy wide brimmed hat.
Joanna London © 2019
