“Perceive / Deceive” – the title of Liz Black’s Spring Summer 2014 presentation. A title that evokes mystery and wonder and invites the audience to make their own perceptions of the collection (or so the show notes tell me).
When first entering Black’s presentation room, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it; just two models stood still next to sharp white structures while mannequins were spread around the room wearing different pieces of the collection; at the end of the room, a projector shone onto a white wall revealing snippets of models showing off looks from behind a screen – not something I’d experienced before. But then that’s the beauty of presentations – it’s a chance for designers to showcase their hard work in an environment that a runway might not allow, a chance to create an entirely new conceptual experience.
Going back to the title, Black’s collection was inspired by the optical artist Jesus Rafael Soto and the conceptual world of Venezuelan Kinetic “where you are invited to form your own personal perception of colour, line and touch”. Using these inspirations, Black created geometrical looks using bold colours of cobalt blue, greens and greys on structured materials with strong silhouettes.
Stand out pieces included an all-blue shorts and leather jacket suit with hair wildly quiffed at the front with a flash of cobalt blue smeared across the eyes. However, the most intriguing looks on show were structured dresses with black and white striped panels and flashes of either blue or yellow with 3D scaffolding-like structures.
The geometric features within the collection along with the sharp architectural setting of the room worked together to create the perfect showcase of Black’s optical concepts and inspirations. Although a little mystifying at first, I can’t help but feel that Black’s choice of presentation suited her collection perfectly, as a catwalk just wouldn’t have done it justice. For this collection, context was everything.
