The Impressionist Fantasies of Dries Van Noten's SS27 Collection Finally a collection that feels like summer

L'après-midi d'un faune is a curious work, with many lives that has changed many lives: born as a poem by Stéphane Mallarmé, it redefined the criteria of Symbolism; transformed into music by Debussy, it became for many the beginning of modern music; choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky for the Ballets Russes, it opened a new chapter in the history of twentieth-century dance.

Yesterday, all these various dreaming, poetic, deconstructive, choreographic natures were called upon for the Dries Van Noten SS27 show, which used Debussy's prelude as the backdrop for the runway and incorporated various reminiscences of the world of dance as well as of Mallarmé's poem itself, with its sense of color, lightness, and clarity.

Julian Klausner, who developed the collection around this thematic starting point, clearly had in mind the idea of evoking an Impressionist spirit made up of color impressions rather than colors themselves, with bold hues of varying temperatures — now powder pink, now mint — that faded into one another, recalling sunsets reflected in water or the image of foliage backlit by the sun captured on the retinas when one closes their eyes.

But the entire orchestra of graphic solutions was called upon by Klausner: screen prints, embroidery, appliqués, tie-dye, color gradients, micro-prints. All played out across a range of textile textures that, starting from the dry base of the technical fabric in the first look, multiplied into cottons, silks, exotic leathers, and knitwear.

This sunny, poetic decorativism was then cleverly expressed through a series of pieces precious and distinctive enough to suggest the mind of a designer at work, yet also reflecting an aesthetic sensibility sufficiently complete and honest — one that has no desire to shock or surprise but thinks about beauty in its own terms, unconventional yet not contrived — while remaining practical and wearable enough to be imagined within a real, everyday wardrobe.

Eccentric touches were not lacking: shorts covered in maxi sequins, men's ballet flats with long laces wrapped around the calves, deck shoes in leopard-print eco-fur, men's foulard tops, semi-sheer tunic shirts, and ensembles of mismatched pieces unified by floral embroideries in the same color applied throughout.

Both the slightly lysergic languor of the music and the models' makeup — their wet hair and dark-ringed eyes making them look as though they had just roused themselves from the most sweltering of afternoon naps — conveyed a strong sense of the summer season. No small thing at a Paris Fashion Week where Louis Vuitton sent puffer jackets down the runway in a surf-inspired collection and Dior put wool coats on the catwalk.

Klausner's most remarkable ability, however, is confirmed to be not only that of continuing Van Noten's work in a manner that is respectful yet also highly personal and distinctive, but also that of knowing how to transform a show into a narrative act using nothing but music and looks — a kind of light, considered, and nuanced touch that is no longer common today and, for that very reason, is all the more precious.