“Something entirely beautiful” was the line quoted by Edward Meadham as the focus for Meadham Kirchhoff S/S13. Titled 'Meadham Kirchhoff, A Cautionary Tale", the duo spun a fable of decadence and rococo luxury...
“Something entirely beautiful” was the line quoted by Edward Meadham as the focus for Meadham Kirchhoff S/S13. Titled 'Meadham Kirchhoff, A Cautionary Tale", the duo spun a fable of decadence and rococo luxury, where Renaissance opulence was met by slogan t-shirts and cartoon motifs: glittering, embellished and jacquard frocks, pannier skirts and boater hats, wrapped up in cascading ribbons, cummerbunds and bows.
“I wanted the collection to look like an old painting and old couture,” said Meadham. Reminiscent of a stately home, lustrous floral bouquets of roses and peonies and indulgent vignette-printed screens designed by Tony Hornecker were placed down the catwalk. “We borrowed a lot of beautiful hand-painted wall paper from Ge Gourney, which is one of my biggest obsessions," Meadham added. Hornecker also designed the set for the S/S13 menswear show, which, despite being less luxurious, evoked a similar feeling of vulnerability hanging amidst the fantasy. Here, somewhere within the beadwork and frothing gowns, you felt a sense of 16th century debauchery as models wove languidly through the set, toying with cupcakes and spinning their ringlet curls.
With a penchant for vintage crafts, trinkets and an extensive doll collection, the Meadham Kirchhoff story created at their show pulled on various eras and imagery to form something truly unique. Here AnOther spoke with Edward Meadham about his inspiration for the collection.
What was meant by the title, “Meadham Kirchhoff, A Cautionary Tale”?
The title had been floating around in some dark recess of my being for a while. The artwork for the invitation is an obvious and literal metaphor for how I feel about my life; the trap or cage relates to the prison of my own brain, the cycle of fashion, the collection itself, the absolute inability to escape. The title basically means our entire history, how we met, how we have worked, how we function, or rather do not function…
What eras did you look to in order to create the show?
I looked a lot at old portraits of Madame du Pompadour, Marie Antoinette, Boucher paintings… I went to the Wallace Collection to photograph close ups of the paintings which I used to create collages which became some of the woven jacquard fabrics I used. Lots and lots of old couture from the late 40's to early 60’s. The entire collection started by obsessing over the old Roger Vivier for Dior Couture shoes, which I have loved and referenced so many times.
Did you have a muse for this collection?
I am my own muse. I design what I want to wear – in reality I don’t get to wear all of it – but I do wear a lot of what I design. It usually begins with the phases I go through with my own personal appearance; between the last show and this one I was wearing a ton of jewellery and as much beading as I could, which is essentially what I did with the new collection.
Text by Mhairi Graham