February 4, 2008

Alexandre Herchcovitch’s hard geometry

Backstage, Brazilian fashion designer Alexandre Herchcovitch seemed like a perfectly normal, balanced kind of guy. But if you were to judge him by what he sent down the catwalk—an army of angular jet black looks followed by a series of Technicolor dream coats—you’d think him a raving schizophrenic.
More simply put, this show was an experiment in color, rhythm and geometry. Not fashion.
The first segment of the show was where we saw him play with shape. A barrage of shadowy looks, seemingly made from the same sheet of shroud-like, coal-black fabric, showed his variations on the same theme. He’d shift an angle here, bundle the fabric there, slice out a shoulder or add a belt, stretching his creativity, always in a controlled and precise manner.
Because the changes were so subtle, it was sometimes difficult to tell the difference between the pieces.
Then—gasp—he started sneaking in color, his grim army marching on but giving us flashes of orange and blue in the linings.
And then—Green Tartan. Black Tartan. Green and Black Tartan in pretty, mini

hourglass silhouettes. And a series of looks based on the same, Archer’s Target print, the lines of the simple, elliptical design perfectly tracing the contours of the models’ bodies.
I gotta tell you, like Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music”, this collection seemed simple enough in concept, but was surprisingly challenging to absorb. That’s because it was largely devoid of emotion. How very un-Brazilian of him. (Interestingly, the opening and closing soundtrack was by Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed's girlfriend).
But I’m sure that’s exactly how Herchcovitch meant it to be, because when he felt like making something appealing, he did. And of course, he nailed it. (This happened once for every four or five looks.)
He ended in the perfect note, transitioning through the color spectrum to peak at a perfect orange, presenting us with a sweet diaphanous mini dress the color of pure sunset. A snow-white ending would have been too obvious for Mr. Herchcovitch, I’m sure.
(PS: One of his models, Geanine Marques, was worryingly thin, with hollowed cheeks, stick thin arms and sunken features. I’m all for non-traditional beauty, but this girl just needs a sandwich. Apparently she’s been modeling for Herchcovitch since he started designing nearly twenty years ago, and is a singer. Listen for yourselves.)

February 4, 2008 in NEW YORK | Permalink