Make no mistakes, it was viva la libertà at Libertine this season, with an explosion of spirit ignited by a melange of many motifs, and if ever there was a season which would take such lurid merriments with aplomp, it is AW14.
Embracing the brouhaha of the brand, a somewhat gaudy collection, which visually name-checked artists such as Christopher Wool and Gerhard Richter, for an gregarious painterly effect, as doodled typography elevated the many juxtaposed textures and patterns on show, aptly inspired by snow and frost, with psychedelic screen-prints, crochets and eager over-embellishments, down to a tee.
Stripping back the kaleidoscopic cataclysm, the bolts of neon emblazoned on the tights encasing each pair of pins are entirely wearable, like the majority of the collection, once breaking down the key pieces, such as enamel encrusted pant-suits, ceremonial capes for only the daring, and diverse outerwear offerings, such as the chroma patchwork mink coat, making yet another appearance this season.
Whilst the niggling artisan in us all yearns for the kind of gay abandon that designer Johnson Hartig markets, it feels like Hartig’s off-the-wall aesthetic sometimes needs a little more curation, but at the end of the day, we aren’t going to split hairs over it, after all, one has to appreciate his lust for life, and he’ll be damned if he lets anyone try to shoot it down.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Style.com