Spring Summer 2019

It was whilst going through pictures of her and her family on childhood holidays that Roni Ilan found the conceptual starting point for her Spring/Summer 2019 collection. Focusing in on one image of herself by the blue water and dry earth of the Dead Sea, she tried to remember what she felt the moment the picture was taken. Noting the difference between her memories of the moment and the forgotten feelings from the time, she asked herself to what degree are impressions of the past and childhood emotions expressed through what we wear.

Maintaining the tactile intimacy of her previous work, Ilan hand dyed silks, jerseys and knitwear yarns using mud from the banks of the Dead Sea. Making a visual symbol of what’s tangible and what’s not, the cloth contrasts the physical marks left by the dirt and the non-physical nature of the emotions connected to the mud’s source. The gap dividing the real and the unreal clearly defined.

Sand, umber, charcoal, ivory, light pink and aqua blues form the collection’s palette used over sheer cottons juxtaposed against heavy satins and faux leather. Subversions of everyday staples, the garments include elongated floor-length t-shirts, tailored transparent trousers and broad-shouldered cropped blazers meant to provoke emotional associations. Alongside pyjama sets, tightly pleated tops and bodysuits finished with wide waist belts, emblazoned with the word ‘Feelings’. Hidden or obvious, concealed or conspicuous, the print is used over the fronts and backs of pieces bringing to the fore the vulnerabilities and sensations that we all share.

Words: Ross Aston