Robert Kupisz Collection

Now, from previous collections I had not expected anything like what I had seen on wednesday at the Robert Kupisz show. How should I say it… the show before was very similar to other polish designers of who most were producing their collections earlier this year. So not expecting much, my opinion of the collection was heightened even more, because I did not expect much.

Enid Blyton came to mind, as well as the youngsters who took part in the Miracle at the Vistula, otherwise known as the Battle of Warsaw, and who were no older than eighteen at the time. So school uniforms and tweed of course! Pigtails were in order, but somehow with the ribbons hanging defeatedly, as if all of the adolescent innocence had gone. A huge direct take from Polish patriotism was the gold woven eagle on the back of some of the jackets, and also sported on the arms of some of the girls. I really liked that Robert took his designs and based out first with the most common trends right now, such as shearling, minimalism and maxi skirts, then went on to his own creative monologue, which evolved into a multi layered collection- the amount of ideas and inspirations which could have possibly gone into this is huge.

The loose cotton shirts were treated to look like they were soiled at the bottom and there was an abundance in military inspired tight 5/7 trousers, mostly in black. Berets, shined shoes and knee high socks were all reminiscent of the war, and with the film ‘The Battle of Warsaw’, which had come out a month or so previously, the collection saved face for patriotism. After this show, I felt a slight tingle which i had only felt at some of the previous shows at Poland Fashion Week. I think the real importance of this show that it had texture, fibre- it wasn’t as glossed over in its minimalism.

With bouffant bomber jackets and gelled side- parted hair, the show really did explore fully the uniforms of war, in particular of the girl messengers/nurses and the Polish pilots. Not too keen on history, I was truly surprised by how the theatricality and usual stereotypes did not enter this collection at all. In fact, that was not the only surprsie. as the designer and previous stylist and hairdresser Robert Kupisz had virtually no continuity with his previous collection- in fact, beside the colours and the materials (which were mostly natural, such as cotton, furs and wool), there was no idea intersection at all.

If Robert Kupisz decided that his previous show was not as worked on as it should have been, then I think he has shown perfectly that his 2012 S/S collection is most perfectly in order.

P.S Photos for this collection will be up this week!