Dries Van Noten SS09, Victor Vasarely
During this year’s AW17 shows in Paris, Dries Van Noten, perhaps the most renowned member of the revolutionary Antwerp Six collective, commemorated his 100th show with a characteristically understated response.
The Belgian designer presented a collection of reworked prints from his previous 99 collections, and cast an impressive array of supermodels including Alek Wek, Amber Valletta, Carolyn Murphy and Erin O’Connor. For fans at home, he launched a “silent archive”, in which, for 100 days, a video of his past shows were posted in random order on his website, starting on 15 March and ending on 22 June.
“[Francis Bacon’s] use of colour in his paintings was the inspiration for my AW09 womenswear collection; all colours were slightly ‘off’, which demanded a lot of work” – Dries Van Noten
The event was a true fashion moment. And perhaps the most moving part was witnessing a designer, in an age where the major maisons routinely overhaul their styles every few seasons, quietly stating his significance with a mature collection that could only come from him. To be allowed to grow in this industry and hone your craft and identity over many years is fast becoming a rarity. Thus few designers today have the opportunity to flourish into artists. Van Noten, however, certainly is one. So to honour his landmark catwalk exhibition, we asked him to reveal the artworks that have influenced his vision.
Mark Rothko “Orange, Red and Red,” 1962. Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation incorporated. 1968.9
Mark Rothko | “Orange, Red and Red”
“The works of Victor Vasarely and Mark Rothko, although they are very different, both play with form and visual rapture. They are graphic and vivid without being plastically pop. The way they work with a reduced palette of black and white, or a few splashes of pure colour and geometry is very inspiring, and can be seen in my SS09 womenswear collection.”
Elizabeth Peyton “Democrats are More Beautiful”, 2001. Copyright the artist, courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels
Elizabeth Peyton | “Democrats are more Beautiful”
“Elizabeth Peyton’s ‘Democrats are more Beautiful’ was the starting point for my men’s SS09 collection, and can be seen in the fine candy stripe in the shirting and the fresh varsity-style conservatism.”
Francis Bacon “From Muybridge The Human Figure in Motion…”, 1965. Collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, copyright The Estate of Francis Bacon, all rights reserved, DACS 2017, photo by Hugo Maertens/Artimage, copyright VG Bildkunst, Bonn 2017
Francis Bacon | “From Muybridge ‘The Human Figure in Motion: Woman Emptying a Bowl of Water / Paralytic Child Walking on All Fours”
“Francis Bacon’s work is intriguing yet terrifying at the same time. I saw his exhibition in Madrid which compelled and repulsed me. The way he uses ugliness to define beauty and exalt the unpleasant is fascinating. His use of colour in his paintings was the inspiration for my AW09 womenswear collection; all colours were slightly ‘off’, which demanded a lot of work.”
Jean Fouquet “Madonna”, c.1450
Jean Fouquet | “Madonna and Child Surrounded by Angels”
“Although this painting is extremely old, the vivacity of the colours are almost surreal by modern standards. As a child, I often went to museums, and there is a Madonna by Fouquet in a museum in Antwerp which I always admired. The artwork itself was not part of my “Inspirations” exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs, but we showed an image of it on a television screen. It’s a very early painting with the Virgin surrounded by angels, all painted in bright blue and red; a truly captivating image.”
John Everett Millais “Ophelia”, 1851-2
John Everett Millais | “Ophelia”
“For the SS15 womenswear show, an initial inspiration came from John Everett Millais’ Pre-Raphaelite painting Ophelia. This painting is romantic but at the same time disturbing; it’s tragic yet peaceful. We wanted the ambiance of the show to be that of a modern, romantic, dewy morning, the morning after a summer music festival.”