Romanticism - (May 2012)

No cutesy floral prints. No pale pink lips. No languor. And certainly no sugary wedding dresses. Revised, revived and reconstructed by a new generation of women designers, romanticism today appears as  the extreme opposite of the safe, gentle visual repertoire of prescribed femininity that it used to be associated with. Instead of sentimentality there are now emotions – mixed often, raw at times, always intense- brought in by clothes that never fail to astonish.

Newness is the most valued attribute in fashion and the clothes in question, the work of Sarah Burton and that of Laura and Kate Mulleavy, have it. They provide, each in their own specifical and inmediately recognizable way, the compelling, memorable and highly influential images that right now count the most in fashion.

In her mere two years and twelve collections as creative director at Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton has evolved her own delicate and at once sharp version of high drama. The transcendant beauty of nature, a Romantic leit motiv, seems to be one of her main sources of inspiration. Out of sumptuous fabrics or even fur she makes grow  organic shapes; bodies are embraced –rather than wrapped- by foliage, fronds, feathers, petals, corollas, corals, sea anemones, shells, crystals, metals; the general effect is literally fantastic,  a tale illustrated. Yet, for all the preciousness of their allure and the dreamlike aura, Burton’s women have a strength that feels all-real.

At Rodarte, their label, the Mulleavy sisters too practice the cult of the great outdoors. The primeval forest,  the wild expanses  as well as the pioneer’s mystique or the paintings in prehistoric caves stir their imagination. Yet also some great masters of the history of art, horror movies, mangas and Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty count among their sources. This mix of references – and these are only a few-  is duly mirrored in their outlandish clothes which in turn seem to be multifaceted reflections of the sisters’ natural eccentricity. Now, eccentricity, which is a form of idealism, counts greatly in the Romantics’ cannon, for it empashizes the uniqueness of each individual. Rodarte’s baroque buildup emphasizes serenity and strength on the women who know  how to carry it on. It adds to their personality.

As its linguistic roots reveal – roman is French for novel- romanticism feds itself on pure unarestrained fiction. Love and adventure, illusions and feelings are its domain. To rationality it opposes emotion and intuition. Since the start, Romantic artists, writers and philosophers were resolutely set against the very idea of modernity. The industrial world unraveling before their eyes horrified them. Sentiments and fantasy ruled their lives, along with dreams and nostalgia, which is a longing for a dreamlike past.

In fashion too the romantic élan refuses modernity. Everyday clothes and practical sartorial solutions are totally foreign to its tenet. Up is the only way of dressing, ceremonial and celebration outfits seem fit for all occasions. Dandyism is a romantic choice. It is then quite surprising that it should fell on women to keep the colors of romanticism flying. Women are generally reputed for the necessary common sense that they are said to bring to the clothing craft, the supossedly innate gift for balancing the utilitarian and the  unreasonable. Most probably, neither Burton’s semi-goddesses nor the Mulleavys’ femmes artistes share the basic needs of the generic contemporary woman. But at a moment in fashion when every other category of taste is promptly and satisfyingly catered for, their respective fantasies deserve the place they occupy; they certainly respond to the aesthetic aspirations of many contemporary women. The nurturing of a truly personal style, one’s distinct touch, gives to those who dare it a modest yet tangible measure of their own freedom of mind – and that’s a gesture sensible and romantic at once
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http://www.rodarte.net/
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