This vacation series by Christopher Kane features a nasty take on the ever-present bat squeak of eroticism that is inherent in all of his work. Experiencing the deadpan playfulness of the event in real life causes one to take a sudden intake of breath. One is compelled to wonder how one person came up with the brilliantly straightforward concept of attaching a large bow to the hemline of a fitted shift dress. Or why not put a couple of powder puffs into the neckline of a slinky petrol-blue jersey slip dress that has a dangerously droopy neckline? Who precisely has the type of mentality that comes up with the idea of carving circles out of the knees and elbows of a black pantsuit and then decorating those circles with marabou?

It might be difficult to make out anything in the grainy lookbook, but take it from an eyewitness who was there: This collection is chock with stylish, hilarious, and easy evening ideas that appear like they would be a blast to wear. You are not mistaken if you feel that it has a vibe that is reminiscent of post-punk New Wave music from the 1950s and 1980s.

Kane and his sister Tammy both arrived at their own circuitous conclusions that led them to this location. As is often the case, there is something sinister lurking beneath every amazing party trick that Christopher Kane pulls off. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is a documentary about Nan Goldin that mixes film of her revolutionary photography from the 1970s and 1980s into footage of her campaign of protest against the Sackler family’s support of major museums and galleries. The siblings had been viewing the documentary at this particular moment. (The Sackler family is the owner of the pharmaceutical business Purdue Pharma, and the opioid Oxycontin is the company’s primary product.) It dawned on them that the clothing was a striking representation of the relationship between the forces of super-wealth at one end of society and the most impoverished at the other.

It was the image of Goldin’s poor addict LGBTQ pals wearing ragged gowns, lingerie, and party dresses that struck a chord with the audience. “The reason they looked so amazing in their poverty was because they were wearing second-hand and discarded clothes thrown out by the wealthy—couture, designer clothes from the 1940s and 1950s,” the author writes. “The reason they looked so amazing in their poverty was because they were wearing second-hand and discarded clothes.”They had recollections from their childhood and teenage years of seeing the destitution that afflicted neighbourhoods in the post-industrial Glaswegian conurbation in which they had grown up. For them, this was consistent with those experiences. “Those who are least well off have the finest sense of style. We have always been of the opinion that.”

Another inspiration for the beautiful synthetic fitting dresses they concocted for this collection was the glamour of the perfectly dressed barmaids serving in Working Men’s Clubs in the middle to late 1980s. This brought them back to recalling the glory of those times. Of course, the references to subversive ideas that they utilise are not noticeable in any way. Kane’s specialty is turning random correlations into coherent narratives, and he does this consistently. However, there are situations when the name itself provides a hint. The gold evening dress with fan pleats is what he refers to as “The Gold Bullion.” The wealthy are always present among us, just as they were in New York City throughout the 1980s.

The Collection