Dilara Findikoglu is a designer worth waiting for.
Her show on Sunday evening ran more than an hour late, but the audience stayed put in their seats without rolling their eyes.
The show opened with the sound of a cage creaking open, followed by the click-clack of high heels. Findikoglu covered the floor of Ironmongers’ Hall with black cling film and dimmed all the lights.
The designer’s collection was about escaping the “Cage of Innocence,” which doubled as the collection’s title and referred to the hold that society has on women and associated with “virginity, brides or girls in white dresses in the countryside or in villages.”
Findikoglu remixed her Gothic looks in a sultry color palette of nude, pink and white.
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Models covered in dirt walked clutching their stained white dresses, while other looks featured studded belts, the spikes sometimes poking through the fabric.
The models were tearing up and shaky as they stumbled onto the runway with leaves and twigs in their hair as they tried to find their balance in Manolo Blahniks embellished with silver chain mail and other metal pieces found at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.
Some looks were animalistic in their nature. One model had a large horsebit buckle in her mouth and another had seemingly transformed into a horse with a blond tail attached to a bondage belt.
The most impressive creation was the antique-looking cream dress embellished with red cherries made from silicone that were so realistic looking that several guests backstage asked if they were indeed edible.
Findikoglu has a way of inserting humor into the gloomiest subjects.