Ah, Boudoir: Andreas Kronthaler named today’s collection slightly opportunistically to coincide with Vivienne Westwood’s first perfume launch of many years. “But also,” he segued adroitly, “boudoir symbolizes for me a space where you feel closest to yourself. Of course this can be in the bedroom, but this space can also be anywhere. Even the beach can be a boudoir.”
And with that we dived into a highly entertaining AK4VW collection. During it, most noncelebrities sat in La Coupole of L’Institut de France, in the middle of which Kronthaler’s team had built a small raised podium. This allowed for his models to parade in a satisfyingly old-fashioned and characterful manner. Kronthaler has relocated to Milan, where the business is, and he spent August in Sicily’s Aeolian islands. You could see that new influence reflected in the amount of buttons left open on his shirt, and in a collection that brimmed with Italianate references viewed through a Westwood lens.
Kronthaler said he only very rarely repeated fabrics in multiple looks, a statement that checked out. Plus over 80% of these fabrics were prewashed, to deliver feel as well as fit. A lot of the wonderful designs and patterns were drawn from interiors, something that made this collection as visually delicious as a Pierre Frey swatch book. There were also stamped leathers, raffia, padlocks, and bones. And a lot of repetitions of the same duffel bag in multiple fabrications.
The menswear leaned toward braggadocio: high-rise, wide-lapel tailoring (very nice), patterned leisurewear sets, baroquely patterned swimwear, and face-embellished slide slippers. The womenswear was perhaps more broadly character driven, from its sheer sheath and fishtail gowned opener to its bridal boudoir closer. A brooch-zhuzhed zip-up jacket in a blush floral was worn above pants made from a pale blue rococo fabric cut with animalia side stripes.
A Regency-ish milkmaid-like dress was cut in a perforated cotton floral and teamed with a tailored metallic jacquard floral jacket. A corseted satin off-the-shoulder ball gown in blue botanicals with red rococo curlicues in velvet and beading at the midriff was teamed with a very rude necklace. A sharp-waisted and pointed-hip dress in blue and gold Lurex jacquard was a gorgeous exercise in historicist experimental drape. “I just wanted to make it as rich and light as I could,” said Kronthaler.
