The power of two: Christopher and Tammy Kane
But above all, there are the brand’s designs to reminisce about. A zip-up bandage minidress in acid green with beige lace ruffles from the SS07 debut comes to mind, or from AW11 a black shift dress, its severe silhouette contrasted with cushiony, squishy plastic squiggles containing a vibrant, liquid centre mixed from dyed glycerine and vegetable oil. Other highlights, of which there are too many to list here, include garments collaged from outsized silk gazaar pansy blooms (Resort 2017) and a line of separates printed with plant diagrams.
“It was resourcefulness as well,” Christopher said, remembering his graduate collection. “And that’s what we are getting back to now. That element of being resourceful. It’s all about the clothes at the end of the day.”
Christoper and Tammy Kane at their London studio with Bruce
Lucy Sparks
Daily mantra
And if the onus is to remain on clothes – and accessories, too – then there is much to earmark at Christopher Kane. Debuted in a digital showcase, the brand’s SS22 collection totals 56 looks. Among them, a silver metal mesh column gown, a two-piece tailored from a softly textured white wool bouclé that is inviting to the fingertips and dresses sculpted from reinforced duchesse satin in cardinal red. There are dresses fitted with cupsidated busts that come to a sharp point; a nod to Hollywood entertainer Jayne Mansfield. “He just sketches, doesn’t he?” Tammy said. “And I look at the sketch and – at this point, 15 years in – I never know what he’s going to come back with. New things that you have never seen before.”
This season, some designs are emblazoned with colourful, impressionistic renderings of faces and the human body. Collage-like, these began life as two-dimensional Brat artworks also created by Christopher. Painting had once been a favourite pastime and one to which he returned during the recent national lockdowns. He works with acrylic paints, cuts of fabric or lace. Onto glue, he dusts sparkling glitter the colour of emeralds or pink rubies. Hobby and work coincided last spring, when for SS21 the brand premiered a handful of unique pieces that Christopher had worked on by hand, among them a leather skirt finessed with confident, expressionistic brushstrokes and a dress with drips of red, iridescent pigment. A line of easy to wear garments printed with his artworks completed the line-up. Updated, it will make a return this season.
Another reason to be cheerful: More Joy. The line, which comprises T-shirts, cotton socks and assorted sportswear in addition to goods for the home such as a wall clock, became something of a phenomenon in recent months. “Is it everywhere? Did you see it?” Tammy exclaims when I tell her that I had earlier today spotted the product’s slogan, expressed in a retro font and borrowed from Alex Comfort’s 1973 guide The Joy of Sex. Alongside drawings taken from the book, the More Joy motto first appeared in their AW18 collection. It’s now the central theme of this selection of ready-to-wear and assorted products, all prized at entry level. “It resonated,” Christopher said of the line’s runaway success. “And for us, it really was a daily mantra.”
Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/arts-life/fashion-jewellery/955846/power-of-two-christopher-kane-tammy-kane