Wanda Layer

>> Google Wanda Nylon and you'll come up with a brilliant blog written by a transvestite who is a big fan of dear old Queen Elizabeth's handbags and then you get to Wanda Nylon, a Paris-based label that specifically focuses on creating directional rainwear that goes above and beyond yer' average pack-a-mac. I'll go to Mrs Wanda Nylon for a few giggles but Johanna Senyk and Peter Hornstein's joint label Wanda Nylon definitely ticks all the boxes when it comes to satisfying my fetish for all materials shiny, water-resistant and very often transparent.  Weirdly I remember Peter Hornstein (formerly known as Peter Bertsch) when he was a contestant at the Festival for Fashion and Photography in Hy√®res and he was creating all kinds of Georgia O'Keeffe esque floral shapes in moulded PVC and other synthetic materials.  Hornstein and Senyk met there and so began their inevitable path towards creating a rainswear specific label.  Whilst this design classic pops up as statement pieces in fashion shows (most notably in Burberry's A/W 11 snowfall finale), Seynk noticed nobody created a transparent raincoat as a speciality.  A quote from Miuccia Prada only affirmed the purpose of this maligned garment: "The space of the body and then also this other space outside the clothes; it changes the relationship between what‚Äôs inside and outside." 

What's even more interesting is that Wanda Nylon aims to be ecological and sustainable in their sourcing of materials.  Eschewing commercially available PVC's and PU's, they chose to manufacture all their fabrics in Europe and almost all of them are recyclable with the end goal of producting a 100% recyclable collection.  

Environmental responsibility aside, the main take home point is that Wanda Nylon's niche is one that I've always honed in on in any number of designers.  I think of my Lover smoke grey pvc cape, a Michael Angel latex coat and a Maison Michel x Opening Ceremony hat and how much textural joy I get out of them.  Wanda Nylon hits all of those high notes and more.  The SS13 collection traverses between style aesthetics, mixing up the darker and slightly festishistic undertones of black PVC, the precision of grey matte PU, the playfulness of polka dot printed transparent PVC and the kitsch sportiness of iridescent dichroic foil fabric.  

Their latest pre-fall collection sees the label expanding into traditional wovens, whilst larging sticking to their remit of weather-appropriate rainwear.  In addition to being water resistant, a lot of the outerwear pieces also give a bit of warmth with aviator jackets and wool mix coats adding a bit of oomph to the collection.  The turtle print PU and the bordeaux coloured PVC adds a warming richness to an overall aesthetic that can feel quite sterile with all the shine, black and precise lines.  Wanda Nylon is making its SS13 debut at Opening Ceremony and Browns in London and it seems like an e-shop is on its way too.  Dressing to get wet in the rain has never seemed so exciting.