WWD: Dries Van Noten RTW Fall 2012

Dries Van Noten has a well-established love of exotica, typically expressed via his innovative use of prints. He is also among the increasingly few designers who give their runways over primarily to daywear — real, unapologetic daywear that could, aside from the editorial flourish or two, make a speedy segue from runway to street. In the collection he showed on Wednesday, Van Noten again fused those two core elements to ultrachic effect. The designer has a particular gift for functioning flamboyance. Back in October, he started scouring the Victoria & Albert Museum for historical Chinese, Japanese and Korean costumes. He then photographed the actual garments — robes, coats, skirts — for large-scale prints that he cut into various pieces to create graphic blocks on the clothes. The side of a lavishly patterned oriental coat became the decorative motif for a skirt; parts of an Eastern skirt, the pattern on a blouse. Sometimes one big, bold graphic made the case, while at others, it was an interesting patchwork. For the full review: http://bit.ly/yHhZFH