Good Mourning
FERRY SCHIFFELERS
I think my outfits lately have been falling short for you guys so this week instead of seeing me I instead sharing the glorious graduate collection, DÉFILÉ DE DEUIL, by designer Ferry Schiffelers. I know absolutely nothing about her since she doesn't include any information about herself on her site but this ornate and entirely black collection really speaks for itself.
The collection is inspired by Victorian mourning dress and naturally it speaks to the goth in me as every goth worth her salt has been, at one point, fascinated by Victorian mourning attire. This collection though isn't just derivative, she puts a modern slant on it. It's funny how some things ignite a little narrative in your head, such as the jacket with the large bow. I imagine a very young woman in the 1980's who married a very wealthy old man who's now dead and her funeral attire is over-the-top and ostentatious as she feigns grief at his death. I'm sure she didn't intend that when she designed the piece, but none the less it's what it makes me think of.
Needless to say my favourite piece is the voluminous dress shown on the girl on the swing. Whilst I have a ridiculously strong aversion for sweater dresses, this one, which reminds me of something Guy Laroche might have designed, absolutely gets a pass.
“From a young age I have lost a large number of people around me, which has given me a fascination for the rituals around funerals. My collection is a fusion of this fascination and my great love for feminine beauty. I have been able to link my vision on femininity to the Victorian mourning portraits in which widows were portrayed in extremely elaborated mourning dress. I took these grief portraits as a starting point and translated them into a modern group portrait in which several generations of women praise the power of femininity.”
