Left: Dimitris THEOcharidis; Right: Jenny (Jena) Holmes
Without doubt, my two favourite pieces (?) from the JENA.THEO press day collection, the very first I noticed – were the DESIGNERS – sitting gob smack in the middle of the showroom minding their own business. Now, I’m pretty sure designers usually stand behind what looks like a harmless mirror and analyze each face twitching of press day visitors, but with Jenny Holmes and Dimitris Theocharidis there was to be none of that. I must say, it was positively refreshing to be able to talk to the designers without needing that backstage pass or appointment. It was as if a layer of presumptuous elitism behind the invisible hierarchy of the fashion industry had been cleared and made way for a more hearty, artist-appreciating atmosphere.
You might remember the collection from my exhaustion-ridden coverage during fashion week; I hadn’t written much but the catwalk photos had communicated a lot of the clothes to be quite light. On lifting some personally during my visit, they were definitely AW worthy heavy; so apparently it’d been the sheer weight of the fabric that had produced such a vigorous ripple on the catwalk! My favourite though, were the fuzzy pieces that looked like gaussian-blur effect.