The Heiresses of Off Fashion
Academy Off Fashion, evening V: presentation of the collection by Deni Cler Milano in National Museum in Kielce.
Museums constitute a natural scenery of fashion shows. Both the world scale ones, as regards the Paris presentation of Christian Dior in the Rodin Museum or the brand Salvatore Ferrgamo for which the Louvre itself opened its doors and Polish shows, among others Warsaw shows of MMC in the Ethnographic Museum, by Gosia Baczyńska in Galeria Porczyńskich, or Maciej Zien in Centre for Contemporary Art. Kielce, which thanks to the cyclical event Off Fashion has become an important spot on the map of Polish fashion, could not be left behind. Last Friday, the palace of the local National Museum hosted the event featuring the collection by Deni Cler Milano.
The uniqueness of the place attracted the crowds. Individuals passionate about fashion, the clients of the brand, permanent amateurs of local openings and receptions, local hipsters and special guests; – President of Kielce Wojciech Lubawski with his wife, parliamentarians with consistently socially active Senator Krzysztof Słoń at the forefront and Lidia Popiel conducting two-day long photography workshops and designer Mariusz Przybylski closing this year’s Academy of Off Fashion with his show a day later – they all came here. Needless to say that latecomers could only buttress the walls
Was it worth it? Of course. Show by Deni Cler was an intriguing event, not only because of the stunning collections and the very baroque ornamentation of the object itself. Modern, often minimalist proposals of Deni Cler for the current season contrasted in an interesting way with the richly decorated interiors. It revived dignified museum, which thanked it back, adding glamour to the collection. Models with their hair smoothly combed back and low clipped ponytails, both in traditional business attire and evening gowns looked here like modern heiresses. A combination of tradition and modernity was also transferred to the musical background: music hits, both the more traditional ones, such as Astor Piazzola tangos and rock – meaning hits of Michael Jackson forever accompanying Off Fashion – the pieces were performed live on piano and accordion.
Most vividly applauded part of the show was the one announcing the line Elegante. Tuxedos with jackets, sometimes providing new solutions in the form scarf-like flaps, chic suits or jacquard dresses with floral pattern are proposals for special moments, including the New Year’s Eve or Carnival.
But Deni Cler is a brand for any time of the year. – We want to accompany the woman throughout the day, so in our collection you can find a variety of styles: from the typical daily one, casual, to the formal one, for the evening, emphasizing the solemnity of the moment – said Vice President of Deni Cler Magdalena Trzaskowska. She noted that despite this diversity, the individual elements of each segment of the collection can be freely combined, each time obtaining a consistent image of a confident and enterprising women who is the addressee of the brand.
During the Friday show these elements included, inter alia, loose coats with simple forms, profiled jackets and pleated skirts of knee length. As it is typical in the case of Deni Cler, subdued colors of beige, browns, grays and blacks dominated the collection, at places varied due to intense pink, red and blue. Clothes representing the formal line gained unexpected, wood finishes, including the pieces from line designate for the evening, the contrast was obtained thanks to metallic luster, gold and silver embroidery thread and decorative beads and crystals.
Smooth fabrics predominated, although there were also different kinds of check patter, including pepita which is very popular among the customers. Deni Cler, as befits a brand with a Milan’s pedigree, since its foundation in 1972, has been renowned for its consistently selected, Italian fabrics. Dresses, trousers and coats presented on the catwalk are sewn from the highest quality fabrics and yarns – with one hundred percent wool, mohair, cashmere or silk. Natural fur aroused mixed feelings. – We did not use synthetics because, contrary to popular belief, synthetic leather and fur are less ecological than the natural products – explains Magdalena Trzaskowska. However, given the relative concept, what is environmentally friendly in the face of drastic methods of acquiring natural resources as well as regarding the research, showing that dressing and dyeing real furs can harm the environment much more than the production of synthetic fur, such a position does not seem to be convincing.
In the end it will be the clients who will vote with their wallets. The shop in Kielce, one of 30 scattered around the country, is one of the most profitable ones. Surely that was one of arguments for Deni Cler to organize its fashion show in our city. The concept of the Academy Off Fashion played a significant role as well – which was admitted by vice-president Trzaskowska – as it is consistent with the philosophy of the brand.
The balance of the show in numbers? 290 seats and 40 standing places for those who were late (all taken). Around 30 models, some of them with runway experience. 30% discount for purchases in the showroom of the brand, hidden in mysterious gift bags placed on each seat. Five types of fashionably meatless and extremely popular starters (are citizens of Kielce up for vegetarianism?) carried around by waiters. Four minutes before the beginning of the show a fragment of a diary by Janusz Korczak was read (as a part of a equitable, although adding an eclectic feel to this event, action “Reading is fashionable”). Two types of wine in glasses, accepted by the guests with authentic enthusiasm. One color (dark red) of the lipstick was used to underline the models’ lips. And one chair from which one of the spectators fell off with amazement even before the show started. Nobody got hurt.
The coverage was created during journalist workshop with Michał Zaczyński. Authors: Marta Gryglicka, Monika Grzegorczyk, Ryszard Herman, Renata Konik, Augustyna Nowacka, Klaudia Pakuła, Dobrochna Rawicka, Klaudia Sławińska, Jakub Święcicki.