Ellen Hodakova Larsson continued to develop the ideas that won her the LVMH Prize last year. She didn’t deviate from her environmentally friendly ethos of only using recycled or upcycled deadstock and vintage finds, and stayed in her safely familiar territory of turning garments upside down or inside out.
The Swedish designer twisted the codes of workwear by turning the common trouser into all sorts of shapes, such as a gown, skirt and sheath dress complete with a belt at the neckline. Coats, too, were crafted from former pants, given a second life as military-esque jackets.
She’s played on this field before to good effect — it’s part of the work that was recognized with the coveted award. But some ideas, such as a pant with a face cutout and used as a hood, or draped over the head as a tunic with nothing underneath, felt overreaching and dragged down the discourse. Her determination to use belts as an embellishment resulted in tentacle-like extensions bouncing off the body. After triumphant woven works last season, it was an idea fussier than necessary and troublesome when two fell off on the runway.
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Elsewhere, Fair Isle cardigans and opening leather looks were shrunken, fun and focused on form. She used instrument strings as diverting flurries on T-shirts and crafted a cage around a model’s form.
A white sheath and a skirt set had subtle, ethereal sheen and slight volume to good effect, and a further exploration of masses of golden zippers had a striking wave and glimmer in a loose tracksuit shape.
Larsson’s off-kilter fits on shirts and blazer dresses gave way to surrealist touches, such as the casing of a snare drum as a skirt and a violin perched as a hat. She then took the idea to its extreme, depositing a model fully inside a cello, using the instrument as a dress. It did not hit the right key.
Her distinct design language is laudable, but will need to move forward so as not to become one note.