Ada Zanditon A/W 2011 The Cryoflux by Ankolie.
I cannot tell a lie: I went into Ada Zanditon‘s presentation with high hopes, unhealthy especially after I ran a huge pre LFW interview with her describing what to expect from new collection The Cryoflux.
Ada Zanditon deep in conversation.
On entry to the On/Off space I was ushered towards already packed seats. Ada was deep in conversation on the front row but it was unclear what was going to happen until she urged those near her to get up and touch the clothes, cheap arranged on a series of awkward mannequins across one half of the room. At which point everybody got out of their seats and descended on the area at the front, immediately blocking the wall just as her short film started playing. I looked at the clothes briefly, then tried in vain to watch The Cryoflux film over a sea of heads before leaving for another show.
This was a compact collection compared with previous seasons. Taking inspiration from the extreme climate in Antarctica The Cryoflux features plenty of complex pyramidal cutting, a technique for which Ada Zanditon has become well known. We have already run multiple images of the gorgeous orange red ‘flame’ wool coat, which picks up on a key colour theme for the next season, but the dominant colouring of The Cryoflux was icy blues, whites and a deep navy.
My favourite piece was the stunning showpiece dress, replete with a layered waterfall of printed silk inspired by frozen ice formations. I was also struck by a particularly beautiful geometric necklace, another collaboration with Luca Romanyi.
Ada Zanditon The Cryoflux jewellery in collaboration with Luca Romanyi.
We have been massive supporters of Ada Zanditon for several years now and we were blown away by her show last season. In short I really like Ada’s design aesthetic and ethical outlook… but I’m afraid that this proved to me once and for all that presentations are a difficult beast to get right. She had spoken of her desire for people to get up close and personal with the collection, which is all well and good, but journalists want good images, and it’s very hard for mannequins to provide this – pretty girls in pretty clothes will always win head and shoulders over a bony angled mannequin, however bony said girls are likely themselves to be. It felt as though this presentation was aimed at the needs of buyers rather than press.
Ada Zanditon A/W 2011 The Cryoflux by Ankolie.
As for the promise of a surprise when we entered the room, I still have no idea what this was, though other people have assured me that there was an ice sculpture in the room somewhere. I never saw it, thanks to the density of the crowd in attendance. Despite Ada’s protestations that this was the best possible way to showcase her A/W 2011 collection I left feeling sadly underwhelmed. Please bring back live models next season Ada!
Previous Ada Zanditon A/W 2010 collection Echolocation. Illustrations by Joana Faria.
You can read more about Ada’s views on sustainability here, and she does of course feature in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.
Categories ,ACOFI, ,Ada Zanditon, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Ankolie, ,Anne N’Toko, ,Joana Faria, ,lfw, ,Luca Romanyi, ,onoff, ,sustainability, ,The Cryoflux
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