Like a caldera at the maw of the underworld, so unfolded the terrain of warped monolithic forms in Sally LaPointe’s AW2011 collection this evening. The fluid montage projected onto the pre-show backdrop set the tone for LaPointe's runway, inspired by photographic processing and “the idea of something latent coming into visibility.” The collection juxtaposed Inferno-inspired imagery with a marbled Roland Flexner-esque aesthetic.
The show opened with a metallic knit bodysuit, worn underneath a silver silk herringbone jacket. This particularly aerodynamic look had the immediate effect of the ambient air condensing into something solid – a foreshadowing of an imminent transition.
As the show progressed, the collection became more thematically apparent as we approached its ninth circle with a printed silk Georgette jacket and red jersey leggings. It is in this look that her inspiration manifested, calling upon the abstract marmoreal arcs of a gelatin silver process.
The flash of the photographer’s bulbs faded and the next canto of LaPointe’s collection emerged from the afterglow -- a series of unctuous, dark silhouettes in micro chiffon and black metallic silk.
The anticipation of a developing Polaroid most closely describes the feeling we experienced during Sally LaPointe’s AW2011 runway collection. The final lineup, like an unfamiliar landscape in the distance, appeared as the awaited final image. Again, LaPointe demonstrated her ability to take the abstract and craft it into something sublimely tangible.
