Ostwald Helgason

Inspiration this time is drawn from Ballets Russes’ Les Noces (The Wedding), based on traditional Russian wedding poems. This is playfully mixed with echoes of the raucous wedding ceremony in Emir Kusturica’s film Black Cat White Cat.

Added to Ostwald Helgason’s black and white palette are wedding cake pastels combined with the red, white and blue of traditional Russian folk garments. In the prints black and white fragments into graphical stripes and geometric patchwork elements, set against classic checks and pinstripes. Stretching the senses even further, transparent prints often float on stripes. The fabrics are cottons mixed with light wool.

Already known for sharp yet playful tailoring, Ostwald Helgason continues to develop this style. In garments inspired by the matrushka the silhouettes start big but are cropped to the small and tight. Oversized jackets with dropped shoulders turn tight and cropped while oversized shirts are shrunk into strictly tailored garments. The stringent lines of men’s tailored jackets are softened into feminine round shoulders, ruched sleeves, drapes, pleats and gatherings of multifaceted finesse. Everything is in flux from independence and innocence to restrictive shapes that cling to the body.