PALMER // HARDING

 

FETISH: COTTON, LIGHTWEIGHT WOOLS AND CASUAL VELVETS

 

WHY THEY WANT THIS: Perfectly timed scuffs of velvet, soft, balmy coats of cotton and welcoming drapes of wool – this was the scene at the palmer // harding Autumn Winter 2016 presentation.

 

The consumer lusting after these clothes is a consumer entirely blind to their own modern-day existence. This consumer wants to be a part of a revolution and wants to send a message through the way they live, the way they wear their clothes and through the message that their clothes send. Luckily and conveniently for this consumer, palmer//harding comes with a strong, anti-digital message. The clothes are presented as ‘protection from the modern onslaught’ – which is ironic in many ways, including the very fact that the person buying this will have close to no access to the clothes in an ‘unmodern’ world. Palmer // harding exude a sense of warmth with this collection, very obviously unlike the minimalist, alienating feel that can come with collections that want to be reflective of current, technologically-advanced times. The materials chosen (velvet, wool, thick cotton) reflect this warmth perfectly.

 

WHAT IT DOES TO THEM: The padded yet slinky nature of the clothes on display exude protection and comfort –a simulated reality in which the wearer is truly protected and removed from the looming, dark, cloud of the future and the unknown. The piece that most reflects this cocooned effect is a yellow, turtleneck wool jumper that covers the model up to just below her eyes. There is a sense of allure and sexual appeal that accompanies this look – the material draping and taking the shape of her face and neck.

 

WHAT’S THE CLIMAX?: Unfortunately, palmer // harding fail in this aspect. While the message of protection and anti-modernity are pushed, it falls flat. What is more absent, however, is the sense of lust and desire towards the clothes. The clothes have a clear personality of their own in their sense of placement and sensual colours, but just as they are about to climb in to the realm of being yearned after…it stops; anti-climatic and almost there.