22 designers: Inside, well more than 100 looks – no special feature for a fashion week. But the annual fashion Suisse is not a sprawling, multi -day event, but a single, compacted evening in the sign of Swiss talents.
The Susirée, several hours, started with a showroom at 2 p.m. Guests already got a preview of the expected fashion before the collections were finally brought backstage and left empty poles. Although the combination of finger food and drinks, surrounded by catwalk looks, may make sensitive minds nervous so shortly before the defile, but everything went smoothly. And while fashion shows starting notoriously elsewhere, the first show of fashion Suisse began on time.
The high timing of looks and designers: inside and the resulting length put the attention span of the guests to the test. However, organizer Yannick Aellen seemed aware. So the evening began with a voice from the off -road that asks the audience to follow the program in order to correctly assign the labels. Only then did the music-a mix of electronics and folk by Bit-Turner, Gael Faure and Jono McCleery-and a look from Maximilian Preisig, fresh from the FHNW fashion school in Basel, open the fashion arathon.
The colorful stage of the Swiss designers: inside
The opening look consisted of orange pants and a white oversized T-shirt. In itself, no groundbreaking silhouette, but the T-shirt, which was wearing the slogan “The quiet hope”, gave the combination weight.
Admittedly, the message was sometimes lost in the glaring pants that threatened the model with every step – a detail that was later lively discussed among the guests. City or misfortune? Maybe both. And so this picture suddenly became a leitmotif of an evening, which otherwise is difficult to put into words.
The fact that politics plays a role for designer Anastasia Bull was already clear in a conversation before the show, and not only through her words. A PIN with Palestinian flag adorned the backstage pass of the designer, while she spoke about “bury the patriarchy” with her collection. On the catwalk, this project translated primarily in opulence. Mini dresses made of se coils and embroidery decorated met with a lot of color, at least until it slowly deviated to the dark to make room for the ‘funeral look’, which also reminded of a dark bride-complete with a flower crown and bouquet.
At Jill Bloch, the “Trad Wife” narrative counteracted with a winking subversion. Models combined bread and shovel next to mini skirt, bloomer and rubber boots, garden gloves combined with partly ultra-feminine silhouettes. The whole thing seemed to land somewhere between Ballerina-Farmgirl and urban upholstery. The proud parents-at least it seemed-clapped in the audience and displaced one or the other tear-a small family moment on the fashion-super-stage.
While in Bloch everyday objects of the catwalk day from the farmers’ shortage, Lundi Piscine literally immersed the audience into the water. Parachute pants, Balaclavas and a top derived from the 500-euro certificate met lifeguards, fishing rods and life jackets inspired by work clothes and uniforms-a visual language that brought the desire for a better world directly to the catwalk. The statement “We Want a Better World” was emblazoned on clothing and on a flag and at the same time referred to the work process by designer Lucie Guiragossian, whose materials come from local sources and be upgraded.
The appearance of Tati, a label that combines folklorist-sexy knitting punk with upcycling textiles, was no less obvious. Handmade knitting plant is not generally considered the epitome of sexiness-but this is precisely this is the strength of designer Tatjana Haupt, who convinced both the organizer: inside and the fashion Suisse jury and was added to the program as a newcomer this year. Like Lundi Piscine, Sonney and Thomas Clément, she was supported by the Design Foundation, which takes over the entire participation costs and part of the expenses for four talents from fashion Suisse & Friends-Line-up.
Tati knew how to transform the catwalk into a playful, queer world. At the end of the show, headed by her giggling team, laughing and holding hands on the Catwalk – a picture that radiated the same carefree energy as her fifteen looks. Between plush cats, Y2K attachments and a wink, the collection formed a lively manifesto and a clear invitation to the revolution, visible on shirts, accessories and in every lovingly staged detail.
As much joie de vivre like Tati, JMQ – Jordan Martinez Quintana also sprayed. In the show notes, the designer’s collection was described as “Maximalist Fashion, Somewhere Between A Flamenco Feria and a Parking Lot Rave” – and in this case the description corresponded exactly to the program. Polka Dots met fruit prints, flamenco-inspired ruffles and headscarves, along with mini baguettes and shopping trolleys, were perfect for a slightly kitsched market visit. Another look showed a naked upper body, glued with motorsport stickers, plus an oversized gold chain and an opulently embroidered buffer jacket-an ensemble between street style and pop culture collage that disassembled masculinity with humor and excessive energy.
Almost as much joy as the JMQ collection, however, gave the realization that the beginning of a well -deserved breather was reached. The first part of the after -filling show lasted almost an hour longer than the schedule provided. The models had therefore not yet left the Catwalk, the around 400 spectators jumped: already from the chairs – ready to fill their glasses and let what they see.
Despite this stormy run to the bar, most of them came back to the second part of the evening, which had no less diversity and abundance than the first.
A special highlight was the three students selected for the showcase of the Fashion University Head: Inside Alan Clerc, Marie Boutin and Thibaut Barraud. Almost more than any other collection proved the young talents a fine tact and combined concept and commerce seamlessly.
Clerc had originally designed his collection for the male body – his own, to be precise. Strictly influenced by classic tailoring, occasionally reminiscent of Martin Margiela’s work, examined the construction and de-construction of the body and was presented on both male and female models.
Boutin, on the other hand, was inspired by motorsport and bikes and created a leather collection with precisely worked corsets, bralettes, jackets, coats and pants – all the pieces that you can easily imagine on young pop stars, on stage as in everyday life. A silk dress with a frayed hem-as if it had touched the tires of a motorcycle-comes from her father’s motor suit, which she transferred to her own designs. Barraud, the only bachelor student among the three, while Clerk and Boutin had recently completed her master, presented a black and white collection of silky tops and figure-hugging clothes-as precisely and convincing as the work of his colleague: inside.
Skulptural then performed the designs of the head graduate Thomas Clément, who, however, did not compete under the school’s roof, but as an independent designer. The starting point was banal actions such as the strap in a backpack or familiar shapes such as the silhouette of a tailor doll. Instead of quoting this one to one, Clément alienated them into irritating body extensions.
An olive green top, for example, reminded of an upside down backpack, the weight of which was exactly where the breast is usually shaped. Below is a skirt of pink and petrolf -colored fringes with every movement like a second skin. Clément designed body images that neither seem stable nor naturally appear, but shifted, newly put together and thus fragile – a poetic game with the question of where the body ends and fashion begins.
When the evening ended, it became clear that fashion Suisse is much more than a mere presentation platform. It is a room for attitude, experiments and stories – for fashion that provokes, maintains and sometimes also irritates. From provocative statements to playful subversion to subtle social comments, an arc that shows the diversity of the Swiss scene in all its facets. The frame seems almost a little too excited for the comparatively short event. In any case, there would have been enough vision and talent for a longer presentation format on site – be it over a whole day or maybe even over two days.
And so the circle closes, because maybe that is the “quiet hope” of the beginning: that the platform grows even further and that the young talents can offer more space in the future to experiment, develop and to shape the Swiss fashion scene more.