Cut-Coat

1. Yohji Yamamoto Fall/Winter 2008
2. Lucio Fontana Concetto Spaziale, 1959

Slitted, double-layered trompe l'oeil coats that demand relevance again. Sexually precise cuts, brutally forbidden peeks. Pastel-coloured 'destroyed' canvases that demand attention through irritation.
/HORST

Real Fantasy, 2013

or 'Piece Of Me'

Top Prada
Trousers Acne

The best collection ever created. Prada Fall/Winter 2008. A historical moment, impossible to be restaged or relived. A real fantasy and wet dream come true. Men in ruffled skirts, sparkly cummerbunds and extravagant bibs. A radical truth.
/HORST

A Short History Of The Comic Strip In Popular Culture II

1. David Salle Spanner, 2009
2. Balenciaga Fall/Winter 2001
3. Neo Rauch Handel, 1999
4. Roy Lichtenstein Masterpiece, 1962
5. Comme des Garçons Spring/Summer 2010
6. Disney Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, 1925
7. Viktor & Rolf Fall/Winter 2008

The elliptic speech bubble. First it appears empty. A cipher (of white letters on white ground) for a post-idealistic, neo-realistic world. An empty void for empty words of empty individuals (David Salle and Neo Rauch). And, when this bubble is filled, we are confronted with words like 'I don't want the world to end.' (Comme des Garçons) or 'Look out world! I'm coming back!' (Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit) and finally 'No'/'Dream' (Viktor & Rolf). Subsequently, we are tempted to assume that - either way - speech bubbles are place holders for cries for help (and rescue). To be continued...
/HORST

Granularity VI

1. Raf Simons Fall/Winter 1999
2. Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2008
3. Dior Fall/Winter 2013
4. Raf Simons Fall/Winter 2008
5. Raf Simons Fall/Winter 2013

The Raf Sander universe is a hermeneutic one. Mind-picking one element, one detail in its recurrent shape. The neck as one centre of his architecture. When something fluid becomes solid, we might baptise him Raf Sandior.
/HORST

Balenciaga Questions XX

1. Balenciaga Fall/Winter 2008
2. Rodarte Spring/Summer 2013

When even the Rodarte sisters repeatedly reinterpret Balenciaga, and I am not just referring to one look but the whole collection as a variation of one Ghesquière theme, we might wonder if this is a tribute or surrender?
/HORST