Dries Van Noten on the Power of Flowers, and Nature’s Unknowns
LONDON — Mytheresa has tapped Dries Van Noten for its latest capsule collection, and it’s an ode to the power of flowers, pattern and electric-bright color.
Launching on Wednesday, the exclusive summer capsule for men and women reflects the mood of the designer’s spring 2022 collection. There are jewel-colored stripes, check prints and nods to postcards of sunsets and tropical flowers across mannish tailoring and lightweight dresses.
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Menswear styles include vibrant shirts and trousers emblazoned with diamond-shaped and darkly exotic floral prints.
When he showed the women’s spring collection last year, Van Noten said that he and his team had had enough of simple, comfort clothes and yearned for something more festive, exuberant and dressy.
So they let loose with layered swags of colorful fringe, dense beading and a range of blurred and smudged prints in vivid, sometimes psychedelic, colors. That collection also featured couture techniques and shapes, including balloon-shaped sleeves and cocooning coats.
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Among the designer’s inspirations for the spring 2022 collection was the Holi festival in India, where people celebrate new beginnings by dousing each other with pigments. It yielded all kinds of watery, stain-like prints in bright shades.
The Mytheresa collection also includes accessories for men and women such as striped sandals, floral totes, chest bags, bucket hats, retro sunglasses and bold cuff bracelets.
The capsule is the latest in an ongoing series, and part of Mytheresa’s strategy of cultivating tight relationships with brands and offering its customers one-off collections and experiences.
The campaign images were directed by Mytheresa’s chief creative officer Julian Paul, and shot by photographer Bruna Kazinoti.
Tiffany Hsu, vice president for womenswear and kidswear buying at Mytheresa, said the company has always been fans of Van Noten, “and his creativity and vision truly resonate with our clients. This is not the first time we have done a collaboration together, but this is definitely the most comprehensive one. We created a high summer collection that has a sportier approach that speaks to various types of clients, and we love the print dresses and kaftans the most. I am personally obsessed with the Hawaiian shirts, as they make me want to go on vacation instantly.”
Hsu added that the typical Dries Van Noten customer at Mytheresa shops “multiple items, as it’s very much about layering and the mix and match of many cool pieces. You actually need to build a whole look. Also, outerwear and knits are very strong alongside the pieces with extraordinary embellishments.”
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Van Noten said he wanted to encourage “joyful optimism, and abandon and spark carefree fun.”
He also wanted the collection to be a showcase for Indian handmade and hand-embroidered fabrics.
“It was another opportunity to include that incredible craftsmanship from India. The people in India really needed the support, [COVID-19] was very hard on India. For me, it was having the possibility to work with them and to see what they could do, that was really fantastic,” he said.
A devoted gardener, Van Noten took his print inspiration from anemones, daisies, chrysanthemums, and alstroemeria and anthurium flowers. He wanted to telegraph “summer, fun and carelessness,” and added that if he wasn’t a fashion designer, he’d be a full-time gardener.
Gardening, he said, “keeps my feet and hands in the ground. Flowers are a symbol of elegance and femininity and when I take this into account, gardening for me is not so far from fashion, but more of a continuation. And I absolutely love the aspect of the unknown with nature. You plant the seed, and hopefully something beautiful will grow. It’s the lack of control we have over the earth which intrigues me.”
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