BURC AKYOL COLL 01 SHOW

" Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained.” — William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell COLL 01 began three years ago. It has been a space of exchange between you and me. I lay down my obsession for Pantelleria and it's black volcanic rock, my polarized identity and vocabulary - both Oriental and Parisian, both sexual and distant. I bared my fetish for black tuxedo-tailoring and their satin noir and my admiration for women - Sirens and Caryatids, elusive like water and strong like marble. No one needs reminding that we've all had to stay at a distance, which suited one side of me and gave me time to tune my language. But it is high time I had the chance to steam things a little and get closer to you. I yearned to gather you and celebrate the multiple parts of COLL 01 as a whole. You are here, in the courtyard of the building where I live and work and my supporting neighbours are seated among you. My atelier is here too, in the 8ème arrondissement of Paris, which has a very Couture perfume to it, but at the same time we are seconds away from Place de Clichy and its urban soul : this is where the idea of Red Pavement or Couture de Rue comes from, that every time you wear my pieces, you feel the streets anywhere turn into a red carpet of your own. In this New-Wave Glamour realm, sweatpants are mermaid legs, sweatshirts are silk tulle dresses and Caryatids velcro their drapes. As we celebrate, we cannot forget that we have even stro