De ‘stille hoop’ van de Zwitserse mode luid en duidelijk

Twenty -two designers, more than 100 looks – no special feature for a fashion week. But the annual fashion Suisse is not an extensive, multi -day event, but a single, compact evening in the sign of Swiss talent.

The hours of Soirée started a showroom at 2 p.m. Guests received a taste of the expected fashion before the collections were eventually brought backstage and left empty racks. Although the combination of finger food and drinks, surrounded by catwalk looks just before the show, could make sensitive souls nervous, everything went smoothly. And while fashion shows often start too late elsewhere, the first show of Mode Suisse started on time.

The high pace of looks and designers, and the resulting length, tested the attention span of the guests. Organizer Yannick Aellen seemed aware of this. The evening started with a voice from nowhere that called the public to follow the program booklet to correctly identify the labels. Only then did the music-a mix of electronics and folk from Bit-Turner, Gael Faure and Jono McCleery-and opened a look of Maximilian Preisig, just graduated from the FHNW Fashion Academy in Basel, the Modemarahton.

Swiss Swiss designers

The opening look consisted of orange pants and a white oversized t-shirt. No pioneering silhouette in itself, but the t-shirt with the slogan ‘De Pacific’ gave the combination weight.

Admittedly, the message was sometimes lost in the bright pants, which threatened to lose the model at each step – a detail that was later discussed among the guests. Genie region or mistake? Maybe both. This image, for example, unnoticed became the leitmotif of an evening that is difficult to describe.

That politics plays a role for designer Anastasia Bull, it turned out in a conversation for the show, and not just because of her words. The backstage pass of the designer was decorated with a button with the Palestinian flag, talking about her collection that ‘buries patriarchy’. On the catwalk, this intention translated mainly into Weelde. Mini -drilling of sequins and embroidery were combined with a lot of color, until it slowly gave way to darkness for the ‘funeral look’, which also reminded of a dark bride – complete with flower crown and bouquet.

At Jill Bloch the ‘housewife’ narrative was contrasted with winking subversion. Models combined bread and scoop with mini skirt, puff pants and boots, garden gloves with partly ultrafeminine silhouettes. The whole seemed to land somewhere between Ballerina-Boeren girl and Urban big city attitude. The proud parents-at least it seemed-clapped the audience and shed a tear-a small family moment on the Suisse stage.

While Bloch everyday objects from the farmer’s life populated the catwalk, Lundi Piscine immersed the audience in water. Work clothing and uniforms inspired parachute pants, balaclavas and a top-inspired top inspired by the 500-Eurobilette with rescue buoys, rods and swimming jackets-a visual language that brought the desire for a better world directly to the catwalk. The text ‘We want a Better World’ adorned both clothing and on a flag and referred to the work process of designer Lucie Guiragossian, whose materials come from local sources and are upcycled.

The performance of Tati was no less striking, a label that combines folkloric-sexy knitting bunk with upcycling textiles. Hand roared work is generally not considered sexy, but that is precisely where the power of designer Tatjana Haupt, who convinced both the organizers and fashion Suisse jury and was included in the program this year. Just like Lundi Piscine, Sonyy and Thomas Clément, she was supported by the Design Foundation, which pays the full participation costs and part of the editions for four talents under 35 from the Suisse & Friends program fashion.

Tati managed to turn the catwalk into a playful queer world. At the end of the show, Haupt, surrounded by her giggling team, was laughing and hand in hand on the catwalk – an image that radiated the same carefree energy as her fifteen looks. Between plush cats, Y2K references and a wink, the collection was a lively manifesto and a clear invitation to revolution, visible on shirts, accessories and in any lovingly staged detail.

A similar joy of life like Tati also brought JMQ – Jordan Martinez Quintana. In the show notes, the design of the designer was described as ‘maximalistic fashion, somewhere between a flamenco party and a parking lot’-and in this case the description met the program exactly. Polkadots were combined with fruit prints, on flamenco -inspired skirts with ruffles and headscarves were alongside minibaguettes and shopping carts, perfect for a light kitschy market visit. Another look showed a bared upper body, covered with motorsport stickers, an oversized gold necklace and an richly embroidered puffer jacket-a combination between street style and pop culture collage that deconstructed masculinity with humor and abundant energy.

However, almost as much joy as the JMQ collection brought the realization that the start of a well -deserved break had been reached. The first part of the evening -filling show lasted almost an hour longer than planned. The models had not yet left the catwalk, or the approximately 400 spectators were already jumping from their seats – ready to refill their glasses and let the seen sink.

Despite this stormy run to the bar, most were back on time and arranged for the second part of the evening, which had no less diversity and wealth than the first.

A special highlight were the three students who were selected for the Showcase of fashion diversity Head: Alan Clerc, Marie Boutin and Thibaut Barraud. Almost more than any other collection, the young talents showed a refined sense of detail and combined concept and commerce seamlessly.

Clerc had originally designed his collection for the male body – his own, to be precise. Strongly influenced by classical tailoring, sometimes reminding of the work of Martin Margiela, he investigated the construction and deconstruction of the body and was presented on both male and female models.

Boutin was inspired by motorsport and motorbikes and created a leather collection with accurately manufactured corsets, bralettes, jackets, coats and pants – all pieces that you can easily imagine on young pop stars, both on stage and in daily life. A silk dress with frayed hem – as if he had hit the tires of a motorcycle – is derived from her father’s motorcycle suits, which she transmitted to her own designs. Barraud, the only bachelor’s student among three, while Clerc and Boutin had recently completed their master, presented a black and white collection of silky tops and close-fitting dresses-as accurately and convincing as the work of his colleagues.

Sculptural designs from Head-Alumnus Thomas Clément followed, which did not follow under the flag of the school, but acted as an independent designer. The starting point was everyday actions such as putting on a backpack or trusted shapes such as the silhouette of a mannequin. Instead of literally quoting this, they alienate them into confusing body extensions.

An olive green top reminded of an inverted backpack, the weight of which was exactly where the breast is normally designing. Below that, a skirt of pink and petrol -colored fringes waved with every movement as a second skin. Clément designed body images that seem neither stable nor obvious, but shifted, re -assembled and therefore fragile – a poetic game with the question of where the body ends and fashion starts.

Towards the end of the evening it became clear that Mode Suisse is much more than a presentation platform. It is a room for statements, experiments and stories – for fashion that provokes, entertains and sometimes confuses. From provocative statements and playful subversion to subtle social comments, a broad spectrum is shown that shows the diversity of the Swiss scene in all its facets. The framework seems almost too wide for the relatively short event. On the spot there was at least enough vision and talent for a longer presentation format – whether it would be a whole day or maybe even two days.

And so the circle is round, because perhaps that is the ‘silent hope’ of the beginning: that the platform grows even further and in the future the young talents can offer more room to experiment, to develop and influence the Swiss fashion scene stronger.