‘Aura’ has become internet speak of late. But for her aura-inspired fall show, LVMH Prize semi-finalist Julie Kegels wasn’t thinking about TikTok. She was considering the capability of clothes to change how we are perceived.
The starting point was Andy Warhol’s book, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again), where he writes that everyone has a certain aura, until they open their mouth. “I really love Warhol’s thinking,” Kegels said in a preview. “It’s quite funny and it’s true. We live in a very public time, where everything is visible. So I wanted to explore how your clothes can shield the real you.”
Kegels began experimenting with shadow as a representation of one’s aura; something that can be manipulated by the cut of your clothes. During the show, models’ shadows were projected behind them, sometimes misbehaving and displaying a different movement, to show all was not as it seemed (the videos were shot in a studio pre-show). “It’s important to me that a Julie Kegels girl might always try to control everything, but there’s always imperfection, and always some humor,” the designer said. Also on the moodboard was Korean Artist Kyungwoo Chun, who takes portraits over a very long time frame while talking to his subjects, resulting in blurred final images that “speak to a person’s aura” without revealing their face.
The collection was darker in palette than we’re used to from Kegels, with longer lines and more austere, protective silhouettes, a theme we also saw from women designers in Milan. Before constructing tailored jackets and skirts, she experimented with shadows, observing how shadow form can distort a skirt or a shirt. This showed up as wonky navy and gray skirts, with curved thigh slits. In other looks, Kegels sought to manipulate the shadow, cutting jacket sleeves in a rounded shape, so when models walked with their hands by their sides, it seemed like they had hands on hips,“it’s so you look confident, even if you’re not,” she said, demonstrating the look. The arm holes on shirts and jackets were shifted back, with some of the lining spilling over the shoulders, to “give the feeling of being ahead of yourself.” Collars were lined with wool, then washed very hot, to create an imperfect, super-starched stiffness and asymmetry at the neck. Elsewhere, a raw, jagged cut leather was used to create shoes and leather caps, in shades of tangerine, black and teal intended to show something “aggressive, and protective,” Kegels said.
To further manifest aura, some dresses featured a bubble-like cape of fabric at the back, as “a double of your garment that always follows you as a protection,” Kegels said. These showed up in various looks, from green silk at back of navy trousers, to a more dramatic white silk ‘bubble’ billowing at the back of a nightgown. These modular additions can be clipped at the nape of the neck or the waistband for the bubble effect, or be let down to create a dramatic train, depending on your mood.
Last season had quick change looks based on magicians’ techniques. This time, a series of looks went down the runway that responded to each other, to create tricks of the eye. At the end of the show, a model exited in a white silk gown, carrying several white bags and hat boxes. The next look was a gray tailored wool coat, constructed to mimic the silhouettes of the boxes and bags, which looked identical in shadow form. Finally, a silk dress with the imprint of a gray look appeared, which looked like the coat was blocking its light. “It’s three layers of appearance,” said Kegels. “Your appearance is always perceived differently by everyone, so I also wanted to show that.”
