Photos – Viktor Boyko ©
The distinct desirability of Natalia Alaverdian’s off-kilter handwriting is spotlit in this quietly powerful proposal of everyday dressing.
There’s a deceptive simplicity to these pieces which belies the meticulous and challenging construction within them. Executed largely in a strict and self-restrained palette of black, white and delicate nudes, with only flashes of mutinous colour, it’s the kind of collection which offers a designer nowhere to hide.
There is a curious appeal to Spring / Summer ‘20’s woman. Subversive and seductive, the spirit is one of bewitching off-ness. Time spent exploring etiquette, convention, stillness and disruption has informed the codes of these clothes.
Within the precise crisp cottons, intricate pleats and transparent rubber lives the knowing mix of androgyny and hyper-femininity which defines A.W.A.K.E. Mode. There’s a conscious reassertion of house signatures in razor-sharp asymmetric tailoring and deconstruction; pencil skirts are rendered in masterfully draped vegan leather, back-to-front shirts fall in fluid silk. Buttoned-up, buttoned-down, taken-apart suiting is at once both rigorous and reckless.
A.W.A.K.E. Mode’s accessories offer – the most rapidly growing category for the business and fast becoming a cornerstone of the label – is elevated and expanded: quilted leather turbo-sized clutches, sculpted electric blue bucket bags. Strappy sling-backs in a rainbow of colourways come in heel heights painstakingly considered to render them comfortable enough to wear all day.
The singular intention of this label continues to be the removal of barriers between daywear and evening. To introduce elegant wit and subtle strangeness into the wardrobes of Alaverdian’s dedicated following.
Stylist: Natalia Alaverdian
Casting Director: Simone Schofer
Photographer: Viktor Boyko
Backstage Photographer: Rouben Alaverdian
Hair Direction: Louis Ghewy using Mr. Smith
Make-up: Mathias Van Hooff using Code8
Eyewear: ANDY WOLF EYEWEAR
Production: James Tregaskes
Music: Toliktyler
