“[Haring’s] message, [about] the accessibility to the exquisite, is really something very important to share still today,” the designer said in a post-show interview for Vogue Runway. Two weeks earlier, guests at the Met Gala pondered if art could be fashion. But Ghesquière’s position became apparent on the runway, mixing inherent wearability with Keith Haring’s distinct, colourful drawings.
It began with a model in a red cardigan and jeans, wearing a zebra-print belt and carrying a briefcase. As the opening look, it felt like a nod to the many who arrive in New York with their hopes and dreams in a bag. Through the show, his brushstrokes became apparent: ruffled miniskirts, ’80s shoulder pads, and nods to history, like a ruffled white blouse that was unexpectedly at one with the Gilded Age surroundings. But in the very same look, trompe-l’œil trousers transposed history with something surreal. That pendulum swung back and forth through the collection, as Ghesquière continued his self-defined commitment to “aesthetic risk” with compelling results.