"The collection is about a woman, not a girl” said Marios Schwab, when asked to reflect on the mysterious character in his S/S12 collection. The show was styled by esteemed stylist and longstandiong AnOther contributor Katy England...
"The collection is about a woman, not a girl” said Marios Schwab, when asked to reflect on the mysterious character in his S/S12 collection. “It’s about an attitude of femininity,” he continued. “Emboldened and empowered.” The show was styled by esteemed stylist and longstandiong AnOther contributor Katy England, whose approach Schwab is extremely fond of: “I love her energy, knowledge and passion – she is authentic”. This season, his theme was chiaroscuro, the contrast between light and dark, which realised itself through transparent and cut out fabrics, reflecting the designer's talent for revealing and concealing in all the right places.
Black mesh fought against an initial layer of pastel. And later on acted as a dimmer for two spectacular sequin bodices. Lace, which, through seaming, was divided into separate symmetrical panels, was reminiscent of the diamond wooden fences found in suburbia and exposed breasts, which transformed the otherwise classical silhouettes into sexy, edgier attire. Known for his starkness, Schwab’s single attention-grabbing accessory came in the form of an oversized, shredded, straw hat, paired with a black halter neck swim suit and which concealed the face of its wearer – a gentle reminder of what was outlined in his show notes perhaps and reaffirmed by England. “I think Marios wanted to create a 'real' woman", she told AnOther. "A seductive, intriguing, cool, distant, sophisticated, femme fatal. But more than a certain 'look' he wanted that attitude. He had this character in his mind when he designed his collection three months ago and I wanted to help him achieve that vision as we cast the girls for the show. One of the main reasons why I enjoy working with him is that we share the same view on women. He loves the female form and celebrates a naturally curvaceous body. I feel this femininity will become stronger in his future work and that's really exciting.” Here, Schwab spoke to AnOther about the inspirations for the collection.
Which films and images inspired you?
Stella (1990), The Lady From Shanghai (1947) and the photography of Herb Ritts.
What is your favourite piece from the collection and why?
The mirage optical illusion dresses – I think it is beautiful how this appears and vanishes with the movement of the body beneath.
There are some very intricate pieces. What were the challenges you faced during the collection?
It was about achieving the perfect composition of the colours and the precision of the cut.
How did you go about selecting fabrics?
It took a long while to find what worked for me. We delved through the fabric mill's archives and had fabrics adjusted to make them work.
Also can you tell us a little bit about what instructions you gave to the models?
I asked the models to watch a scene from the Italian romance Malèna (2000) pre-show to get them in the right mood.
Text by Fiona Cook
