PARIS, Jan 27, 2010 / FW/ — “DUALITY praises the powerful woman that, in all her beauteousness, is not afraid of seduction and conquest,” Jan Taminiau wrote in his press note for his Spring / Summer 2010 couture collection.
Women dressed in seductive garments, their profiles emphasized by a full-face band, their hair brushed up and worn like a crown. This might sound like a cliché but they have an Amazonian quality about them, as if their beauty is their weapon and their clothes their armor.
Still, in Jan Taminiau’s thoughts, that’s just half of the story. Duality is also based on a duel between different cultural traditions, heritage and innovation; a duality of seduction and repulsion, unveiling and hiding.
To illustrate that, Taminiau used different materials and fused soft and hard into one. The sturdy hand woven Obi fabric from Japan, with its endless details, is used for sculptural forms.
The fabrics have been heavily embroidered by hand with multiple layers of sequins, beads and “Swarovski” crystals, forming reliefs that transcend their two dimensional form and remind of endless organic landscapes.
[MARI DAVIS]
Photos by Peter Stigter, courtesy of JANTAMINIAU
