Let’s call this show a New Romantic moment in fashion. It’s been a while that a collection conjured up the mood of romance so unabashedly even while the fashion of the same name musical period from the 80’s was all about flamboyance, this new Dries Van Noten collection by Julian Klausner was a a light and airy affair – a love affair with fashion rendered in beautiful earthy colors, genderbending details like scoop necks, spaghetti straps and ballet flats and a coat heavy silhouette in wonderful washed silks and viscose. Klausner has managed to establish a credible creative format in a short time as it all feels organic and coming from the heart; a lineup of clothes devoid of any trends happening elsewhere, vaguely familiar only through the color palette but with a new and more fluid silhouette. Many looks had the feeling of training gear for a modern dance company (the sock styling) with warm up parkas and short shorts to evoke a very louche silhouette and a general feeling of sensuality hung in the air in the tennis court of Paris in the 16^th  arrondissement with a beautiful classical score. These clothes are soft by fabric and intimate through their close hugging of the torso.

The silhouette?

By pairing long coats, parkas and anoraks in washed silks and viscose with lots of pockets and dangling closures with mostly short shorts styled with ankle boots, Klausner had a nice tension.

The dream?

Klausner used a poem about waking up from a dream as starting point, daring already. But the clothes exactly had that quality of squinting at them through sleepy eyes from a distance and then focusing as they marched by in the vast space. Often just a silk foulard worn as top in front with an open back.

The utilitarian aspect?

Many garments were classic staples twisted like a hunting vest with arms chopped off, but the padding intact and many more epaulettes and multi pocket vests which juxtaposed the utilitarian aspect nicely with the softness of the collection.