When the going gets tough, a word of encouragement can keep you going. That was the idea underlining Burç Akyol’s fall collection shown Tuesday on the top floor of the Institut du Monde Arabe.
Backstage and in his show notes, the Paris-based designer talked about how hard times were for independent businesses, particularly in fashion. Take the shuttering of Studio Berçot or the way his knitwear manufacturer folded only two weeks before his show.
But rather than letting these travails transpire in his work, Akyol stitched uplifting quotes from Persian poet Rumi and looked at the moment his passion for fashion sparked.
“I just wanted to go back to a time where there were so many things I adored,” he said. And the references for this child of the ‘90s spanned from Hedi Slimane and John Galliano to Christian Lacroix’s couture and the beautiful materials used in his father’s tailoring business.
These references helped him push out of his now-familiar territory of glamorous, sexy austerity with an infusion of casual and sportier staple pieces like bomber jackets and jeans.
Cases in point: a blazer that could be belted through slits on the front, preserving its impeccable back line; denim with black panels that nodded to the modesty-preserving banding of see-through bodysuits of seasons past; dresses that looked like activewear tops merely draped in a length of fabric for a skirt.
Carried by a coed cast, his lineup exuded the kind of unbothered cool that bodes well for the brand, which transitioned toward a wholesale model last season.
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