No Imitation

I can’t quite think of Imitation of Christ without thinking of Drew Droege’s Chloe Sevigny spoof videos where referencing the notorious label is both a factual nod to history (Sevigny was creative director of the label once upon a time…) and a snide in-joke.

Theatrics, gossip and tumultuous events have dogged Imitation of Christ and designer Tara Subkoff with extreme highs and lows.  Its fashion hey-day may well be truly gone but Subkoff‚Äôs return to the label last year still guarantees a pretty stellar turnout.  I‚Äôm a celeb dunce but I did get mildly excited that Natasha Lyonne was at the show yesterday because all I could think was ‚ÄúYou‚Äôre in that awful but good film But I‚Äôm a Cheerleader, that I like to watch every now and again for no apparent reason‚Ķ‚Äù

The spectacle factor was still very much there too.  How do you trump the fact that a fashion show was in fact a REAL wedding.  Model/IT girl Lydia Hearst according to the PR did ACTUALLY get married to some guy called Miles.  It was somewhat uncomfortable enough listening to vows that I thought was total play-acting.  Then to hear that it was for real?  Not sure whether to send felicitations or not‚Ķ.

Us ‚Äòguests‚Äô in the ‚Äòpews‚Äô did cop a good eyeful of Subkoff‚Äôs return to recycled/upcycled vintage pieces.  This wasn‚Äôt trailblazing FASH-WUAN but it was prettiness for the sake of prettiness, something that is lovely to see especially when supreme bits of vintage lace brush past you in a pitch perfect range of pastel colours.  More interesting perhaps were the kimono dresses that came up high at the neck at the front and dipped low in the back which tempts me to take a kimono to a skilled dressmaker to do the same.  Even better was one particular knitted dress that had ribbons cut into the skirt.  Boardwalk Empire freaks and anyone into the delicate aesthetics of Picnic at Hanging Rock (who isn‚Äôt, let‚Äôs face it‚Ķ) would have oohed and ahhed a fair bit with the abundance of dropped waists,  delicate embroidery and aged chiffons and silks.  

One might scratch their head and think, why not just go for the original garment with the resulting garments colliding so closely with the real shebang.  I suppose I find it slightly odd and pleasing at the same time to be going to a show and seeing what is a parade of what I might find in Annie‚Äôs or Merchant Archive in London.   The bride however did bring one final twist to the story with a frosted acrylic structure curving around her hips which from afar did look perfectly integrated with the cream lace.  The clothes probably won‚Äôt be the lasting talking point however with so many exclamations of ‚ÄúOMG she TOTES god MARRIED!!!!‚Äù lingering outside the show but there‚Äôs definitely something to probe about here in the second coming of Imitation of Christ‚Ķ.