“I love to research, That’s how I always start,” wrote Walter Van Beirendonck in the collection notes for his Spring/Summer 2024 collection, “DAWLEETOO,” unveiled during Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday.
Named after the infamous “lost city,” where British explorer Alfred Isaac Middleton was said to have vanished while on an expedition, the designer looked to the elusive locale for a sartorial starting point. But, since little is known about the uncharted territory, Beirendonck’s research included generating AI imagery to envision what it might look like. “I am not ashamed to admit: when the first simulated visuals popped into my feed, telling truth from fiction wasn’t easy,” he said.
Tacking a mood board exploring the boundaries between fact and fiction, Beirendock’s SS24 collection asked a simple question: “What was real and surreal?” Through his fashions, which spanned wearable silhouettes and avant-garde creations alike, the designer explored precisely this.
Among the range, padded vests, donning enlarged “W” iconography and circular cut-outs, appeared alongside mesh bodysuits and from-the-future coats that wrapped around models’ legs like shinguards. Jackets, in signature bright reds, as well as baby blues and whites, featured gargantuan, wraparound collars with sharp corners jutting out from either side, while reflective leather designs, including blazers, flaunted openings in their under-arm regions.
Many shirts featured elegant ruffling down their centers, while others took on more artful identities, with cinched detailing forming organic shapes across the body. Many fabrics, across blazers, tank tops, shirts and dresses, were transparent, leaving colorful underlayers on view. Others, meanwhile, enlisted vivid illustrations to do the talking. A legion of well-tailored suits stormed the runway, envisioning the real-world applications of Beirendock’s work, before a dangerous-looking yellow bodysuit and a skeleton-covered plastic bag offered a metaphorical take on the designer’s inspirations.
Overall, Walter Van Beirendonck’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection was for today, for the future, and perhaps, for another planet — all at once. In his words, “We are new world explorers and guinea pigs. Surrounded by hyper-myths, today’s fairy tales.”
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