“This season I was thinking about the idea of identity, disguise, and the different masks and faces – both real and metaphorical – that we put on to project an image of ourselves. I was fascinated by the personas that people cultivate through their clothing, hairstyle, make-up, posture and mannerisms.”
Described Serafina Sama The founder and designer of luxury womenswear label Isa Arfen. This season’s collection was all about exaggerated femininity and off-kilter elements inspired from an eclectic range of sources including Fellini’s clowns.
Overtly girlish cuts and silhouettes are subtly skewed to subvert the sweetness. ruffled hemlines fall asymmetrically, and some tops have only one sleeve. Denim pencil skirts and cotton poplin shirts are reworked with unexpected ruched detailing and a tailored jacket is chopped short, only to have a tulle tutu sewn onto the hem. Proportions are deliberately ‘off’ and invite playfulness in the wearer and its for her to decide if it’s a tulle and silk slips dresses or tops which makes it all much more interesting and quirky. garments are complimented by shoes designed by Charlotte Olympia for Isa Arfen.
The colour palette is a mix of toffee, Bellini pink, moss, olive green and grey, and is enlivened by pops of acid green, cayenne orange and deep purple. ‘Grown up’, ladylike pieces are disrupted by ethereal, almost childlike accents.
There is a sense of irony throughout the collection – fabrics are at times deliberately clichéd: a frothy flocked tulle,
sumptuous crushed velvet, sinuous satin, lurex jacquards and taffeta or a colossal faux fur is a spin on the classic trophy fur.
