Seduced by timeless glamour
Charlotte Eskildsen gives "quiet luxury" a modern twist in her fifth show with The Garment. The collection is inspired by the aesthetics of the 80s film 'American Gigolo', but has a welcome contemporary well-dressed feel to it.This show review was translated from Danish to English by Graham Addinall.
LÆS DEN DANSKE UDGAVE HER
The Garment, Wednesday, January 30, 2024, at 13.00, Moltkes Palæ
You don’t need to be able to remember the plot of the 80s film ‘American Gigolo’, but it helps a little to know the aesthetics of Richard Gere’s and Lauren Hutton’s costumes (which, by the way, became Giorgio Armani’s breakthrough as a designer). Then you might understand why Charlotte Eskildsen is so fascinated by the understated vibe that she dedicates The Garment’s entire collection to the look, which incidentally made a bit of a comeback last year with the fashion term “quiet luxury”.
However, the setting for the show could not be further away from the film’s West Hollywood backdrop: Moltke’s Palace, the headquarters of the craft guilds. It is clear in everything Eskildsen touches that she has the deepest respect for classic tailoring and that she felt at home here. She kept the show quite simple without falling into the obvious (playing Giorgio Moroder’s film soundtrack or letting the models get glam up for example) in order to let the design speak for itself. Only three modern sculptures by Josephine Winding on the catwalk broke the palatial atmosphere and helped place the collection in the present.
Eskildsen has always been fascinated by the balance between the masculine and the feminine, both in her long-standing work with Designers Remix and in the last five seasons with creative responsibility for this “less-is-more” brand, which she continues after influencer Sophia Roe has recently departed. Eskildsen has had the upper hand since the first collection, and with this she once again shows her sovereignty in mixing the two elements.
She remains true to The Garment’s manifesto of always being relevant in colors, cuts and materials without succumbing to fads, so that the clothes have a long life. She maintained this with the neutral palette of white, champagne, banana yellow, coal grey, coffee brown and jet black with a few bright red and silver metallic touches in oversize sweaters and baggy trousers respectively.
Klara Kristin opened the show in a beautiful grey-blue wool cape with a large silver button on the shoulder over a timeless suit in the same material, then followed other suggestions for the suit style with a long figure-hugging jacket in recycled leather, a short woollen bomber jacket with chest pockets, a cropped pinstripe jacket with fringe and double-breasted short blazers with shorts, mini skirts, flared wide trousers and the new narrower ones with kick-flare width from the knee.
Eskildsen perhaps came closest to some toned-down Hollywood glamor in the evening wear. From a narrow black tuxedo with an ivory white lapel to a sexy tulle bubble skirt in short and long versions, champagne-coloured satin slip with a gathered, upright hem and a sweeping faux fur coat over an almost transparent white turtleneck and pants with generous width. Mathilde Gøhler in particular shone in the finale dress of the thinnest wool cut diagonally to a swaying midi length over long leather boots and with a wide hem on the bustier top.
The Garment oozes integrity and contemporary well-dressing.
See a selection of the show looks below and see the entire collection here.
