Last Friday evening, as light sheets of rain blew across the most beautiful sunset of the year so far, two friends and I made our way to the Dog Eat Dog Presentation being held in the Green on Red Gallery in Spencer Dock. I always enjoy sharing what I do with my friends and giving them a peek into the fashion world and I've been interested in this Dublin brand for years now, so I was already excited for the presentation.
Thankfully, it didn't disappoint. While I was a little confused when I realised that only five looks were being presented, I loved the setting, set and overall vibe.
Inspired by Thin Lizzy's video for "Chinatown", Oisín Hunt showed his clothes in a pared back version of the video's derelict, messy aesthetic. Palettes, tires and abandoned trolleys were artfully arranged in the white box style gallery, all painted white as well, transforming the inspiration and presenting it anew, turning the "messiness" and "dirtiness" on its head.
Seventies and eighties rock classics blared across the echoing, bare space, further setting the scene of this controlled imagining of rock and roll exuberance and vice. The clothes, themselves, continued the balance of order and chaos. Tracksuits - informal garments with a long connection to lower socio-economic groups and delinquency - are re-imagined as monochromatic, velvety co-ordinating pieces that, paired with the minimal styling, are suddenly more than themselves. They still tell the tale of a Dublin but there is something elegant about them. Likewise, the light wash, paint spattered double-denim looks - which should, in all rights, be montrosities - fit and flatter in a way that elevates them while nodding to a time past. Finally, if anything were to ever evoke the 80s in my mind, it's coloured leather and Hunt's white raw leather coat reminds of something plucked from my father's wardrobe but given a rather more chic spin by skimming the body and dusting over an all black look.
Hunt really has managed to recreate 80s Dublin but make it modern, wearable and cool but just nostalgic enough. I also think it rather commendable that the label presents womenswear for the very first time with garments that are very much unisex - something that is very topical and a direction clothing seems to logically be heading towards.
"Seldom Seen" is a collection that excites me. It may have slightly baffled my friends but I dig it.
No comments:
Post a Comment