Now & Then XII

1. Stella McCartney Spring/Summer 2014
2. Jil Sander Spring/Summer 2009

Now that Jil has left once again, Raf might be in dire need for a substitute mother. Stella is embracing this moment and warmly adopting the loved, left and lost child and his minimalist ideas.
/HORST

A Short History Of Stripes In Popular Culture VIII

1. Todd Chilton Backslash, 2010
2. Todd Chilton Wiggle, 2010
3. Todd Chilton Untitled (Black White Over Under), 2008
4. Acne Spring/Summer 2013

The stripe as double triptych. And clothes as op-art. Have you given in to its principles, yet? Have you found the stripe that suits you best? Irregular, curved or narrow? Which type are you? This is a psycho test.
/HORST

Post London IV

A 'False Encyclopaedia' double feature with Bryan Rapp, discussing:
J.W. Anderson Spring/Summer 2014

When I was a kid, I used to play a lot of sports. I tended goals in both ice hockey and football. The former required wearing a jockstrap. For a short period of time, I tried my luck in the game of handball as well (but not as a goalie, mind you). It was one of my then-best friends, with the most common Swedish surname Andersson, who brought me to my first handball practice. I remember that our coach was a pregnant woman and that our team colours were red, blue and white. I quit the team after only a couple of weeks. Handball was not my cup of tea.

/BRYAN

When -isms collide and the gender revolution neutralises itself, anti-masculinity becomes the mere image of womenswear worn by men. Or men wearing womenswear. Plus. Minus. Zero. Slowly, the J.W.A. concept becomes a papier mâché set, loosely glued together, juncture points still visible. A reflection of one's own deconstruction:
Ad novum mundum creandum, primum delendus est vetus. Scissors, pins, ready.
/HORST








1. J.W. Anderson Spring/Summer 2014
2. Jeff Koons One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank, 1985
3. Joe Lally Pop 421, 2013
4. Wayne's World Game On, 1992
5. J.W. Anderson Fall/Winter 2013
6. Maurice Scheltens Forms Of Boredom, 1999
7. Comme des Garçons Spring/Summer 2011
8. J.W. Anderson Spring/Summer 2014

All about Bryan Rapp

Superficial Implant

Part II of 'Duplicate Diptych Week'



1. Balenciaga Spring/Summer 1997
2. Gucci Fall/Winter 1996

From 'amorphous forms' (cf. Hans Arp) to 'organic plates' at Balenciaga and Gucci by Tom Ford, strict geometry is broken into fluid shapes. Designed as a golden armour, hidden as second-skin, revealed by cutouts.
/HORST

Worm Therapy

1. Proenza Schouler Fall/Winter 2013
2. Ettore Sottsass Bacterio, 1978
3. Proenza Schouler Fall/Winter 2013

With his pattern design for the Memphis Milano movement, Ettore Sottsass turned geometric forms into texture, and laminate became textile. What originally had an op-art effect on furniture, turns into fake fur on clothes.
/HORST

A Short History Of Stripes In Popular Culture VII

1. Raf Simons Fall/Winter 2010
2. Yves Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane Fall/Winter 1999
3. Dior Fall/Winter 2013
4. Vincent Como Objects of Unknown Power and/or Origin, 2001
5. J.W. Anderson Fall/Winter 2013
6. Céline Fall/Winter 2013
7. Jil Sander Spring/Summer 2013

The interrupted block stripe. When an endless line is disconnected and cut into a box, Raf Simons and Hedi Slimane become much closer than expected. A 'band' that connects them all, including Jil 'Simons' Sander, J.W. 'Madame' Anderson and Phoebe 'Lang' Philo.
/HORST

Govern/Mental

1. Sonia Rykiel Fall/Winter 2013
2. Mugler Fall/Winter 2013
3. Dior Homme Fall/Winter 2013

If the circle is a symbol for my beliefs, we are witnessing the rise of a renewed pact. The primitive form as icon for a world order between feminism and futurism. Woman as soldiers, men as toys.
/HORST

History O-Hole

1. Saverio Cardia Playing Fashion, 2011
2. Mel Bles The Clash, Arena Homme + Spring 2012

From X to O, to XOXO. We pair the X-neck scarf with an O-hole sweater. We combine 'cross'-dressing with 'circum'-size. Peek-a-boo, cutting through. Fashion that gives away the 'inside' of you.
/HORST

Prophetic Quality

Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2013

Just minutes after a metallic compilation entitled Lamé, Jil Simons showed a variation of sliced geometric shapes in gold. Executed in quintessential minimalist form, as expected and as hoped for.
/HORST

Image credits Style.com

Horst Decoration, Issue 7

1. Melt Chair Nendo, Cabinet Snickeriet, Table Ettore Sottsass
2. Mamma Chair Gaetano Pesce, Chair Rick Owens
3. Il Piede sculpture Gaetano Pesce, Zink shelf Jonas Bohlin

Sculpure as furniture. Symbolism as cushion. Welcome to my fictive 'black and white' home. We will play chess, eat dark chocolate and vanilla ice cream, wear leather and mesh, say 'Yes' or 'No' but never 'Maybe'.
/HORST

Wahrnehmungsstörungen

1. Calvin Klein Spring/Summer 2003
2. Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2012
3. George J. Sowden Interior Design, 1983
4. Comme des Garçons Shirt Fall/Winter 2012

When the mesh grid dissolves into blob formations, a short history is interrupted. We commit ourselves to a logical order of irrational systems. Structures that are bent to an extent that still allows identification as such. A geometry of freedom.
/HORST

A Short History Of The Grid In Popular Culture VI

or 'How Horst Influences Fashion'






1. Calvin Klein Spring/Summer 2013
2. Marni Spring/Summer 2013
3. Ming Pin Tien Spring/Summer 2013
4. Phoebe English Spring/Summer 2013
5. Sportmax Spring/Summer 2013

Each season, at least five design houses follow the call and demands of Horst. This phenomenon can be explained as 'collective consciousness'. Ideas and observations float. Minds are transparent and diaphanous. Just like an open grid.
/HORST

Image credits Catwalking