Do you want to hang out sometime?
Spring Summer 22
On 1 July 2021, René Scheibenbauer asked people to join a therapeutic space for self-reflection:
You are invited to spend a day with someone special – yourself. Plan a day in which you reserve
time for yourself with the idea of going for a date in mind, present yourself to impress yourself.
Prioritise your own needs and desires.
I always want to listen, to ask questions and reflect. I want to understand how people are forming an identity with the clothing. That’s why I always begin with a workshop, to see what they think, what they need, what are the right things? I wanted to do a workshop that was like taking yourself on a date. Presenting yourself in your best way, doing what you like best, for you. A proper day of self-care.
Those taking part were asked to document their day with images, sound recordings, and reflective writing. All of them took refuge in open green spaces, stepping away from the hampering of lockdown.
Since I always work with the same people, I always have them in mind when I am designing. With the participants, it is about the context of their texts and images. I also always like aspects of practicality: lots of pockets. An elegance. And I was thinking of trench coats and people walking in the rain.
The first workshop that Scheibenbauer organised, when he was a student at Central Saint Martins, was devised around the practice of art therapy. Blind-folded participants were asked to map themselves around a piece of paper as a sort of abstract and emotional proclamation. This season’s dusky prints are developed with the same attitude by artist Anya Gorkova who laces negative film strips with hazardous chemicals. It is a process where ‘you don’t really have to control what’s happening, but there is intention,’ Scheibenbauer says.
The look is perhaps the sexiest he has ever done.
Lots of mesh
Bias cut silk satin skirts
Single crease yoga pants
Slim tailored wool jackets with slings
Möbius strip waistbands
Bikinis are everywhere:
Bikini tops with detachable pockets
Bikini bottoms with matching bumbag
Bikinis tied to the body, through and over shirts, tops
Designers often say that they make fashion to boost self-confidence, but here there is an element of fragility and
intimacy too. The collection is a contrast of really relaxed and really wanting to be seen.
Tube tops
Tank tops
Satin bags
Straps through the dress, straps through the bikini
A back-the-fuck-off sexiness
‘Tasteful hotness’
Sling pockets
Silk scarves
Pockets hidden at the elbow on shirts
Pockets hidden at the knee on trousers
Sensuality that is almost like solitude, a space where you can have many identities and choices. As this was about going on a date with yourself, you only have yourself to please.
Words by Dal Chodha
Download Spring Summer 21 Press Release