Words and Images: Camilla Harrison
18 February 2011: London Fashion Week Presentation

“Conceptual, material, so sexual” was the words that designer Philip Colbert sang at his show at the Gazelli Art House. An ironic song performed by himself and his ‘band’ is integral to a visit to a Rodnik Band presentation as Colbert writes a song based on each collection. The presentation was anything but conventional.

The Gazelli Art House is a vast space, and currently home to Fired Up, a new display of work by five contemporary artists. The graphic artwork was the perfect setting for Colbert’s designs. Upon entering the gallery, it was hard to miss the four models standing on the podiums. The first and most striking was quite literally, Duchamp’s famous piece “Fountain”, in dress form. The piece was translated onto the body by way of a short dress adorned with white sequins and held on the body with a halter neck tie. These pieces could definitely not be accused of hiding in the shadows!

The other dresses included Andy Warhol’s famous “Campbells Soup Can” and Salvador Dali’s “Lobster Telephone”. Immediately a phrase came to mind; what Colbert was showing was ‘wearable art’. More often than not, many describe fashion as more than just clothes; it is an art form. It seems Colbert’s take was perhaps quite tongue-in-cheek, and took this idea to the most literal form.

Throughout the garments that were shown, some on models, others hanging simply from the ceiling, it is clear that there was much more of a focus on surface decoration than shape. One particular favourite dress of mine however, was the Dali Lobster dress. The idea of a lobster dress is one that is quite humorous; but in contrast, the long form and red satin made it a really quite beautiful garment. The beauty was in the juxtaposition of a surreal idea with an elegant line of the dress.

[The models wore graphic makeup to match the distinctive clothes; each had a tear falling from their eye (perhaps a nod to the Roy Lichtenstein inspired dress) and their hair was styled in a retro up-do, slightly disheveled and not quite perfect.

Colbert clearly understands that fashion is not a one-dimensional thing; it exists in culture and the presentation proved just that. Fashion, art and music all amalgamated into one; after all, where would one be without the other?

For more on the wonderful world of the Rodnik Band visit: www.therodnikband.com/