In a blinding blaze of lights, cameras and non-stop party action, Christopher Kane’s Residency collection for Self-Portrait took off like a firework in London last night. Shiny crystal, pastel fringe, chain mail, tiny bodycon dresses: all the elements that fueled his explosive debut in the spring of 2007 were there. “Look! She’s like a Fabergé egg!” Kane smiled and admired a style that glittered in a neck-to-thigh stitch of silvery rhinestone mesh. Strips of chain mail sparkled around her bodice. A crystal zipper tag swung around her neck .
The socks, this look and 29 others appeared on Self-Portrait’s website last night at 8pm London time. It was just as the warehouse-sized party-slash-shoot started, news that had guests checking their phones and doing a double take at the prices. The aforementioned Fabergé dress: £650. The socks: £30. Even though it’s clearly a return to Christopher Kane at full strength, there’s a lot going on that’s very different from before.
“This was Han’s idea,” Kane said. “He said, ‘Let’s go for it!’” Han Chong is the owner of Self-Portrait, the mega-sales phenomenon he founded in London in 2013. Having quietly built production facilities in China and standalone stores selling accessible, priced event, bridal and special occasion wear for children around the world, Chong has allowed himself the luxury of setting up his Residency project. “I didn’t want to do transactional collaboration like others,” he said. Chong circulated happily amid the chaos ahead of the fashion show. “I just had a spontaneous feeling about Christopher’s work,” he shrugged. “He celebrates femininity, and that is what Self-Portrait has always been about. And the timing is good: we’ve had enough quiet luxury!
Loud, fun, sexy clothing at prices that fit the budgets of teens and young women is now a reality on a level that wasn’t possible in 2006, when Kane and his sister Tammy painstakingly made every garment by hand. There are no direct real replicas from the first collection, he points out. Overall looks include stretch lace catsuits with scrunchie cutouts, glamorous satin bias slip dresses, minis, midis and maxis, ruffle bags and sweaters.
“Han called me in the spring after I posted photos of that collection when it was in the ‘Design Museum Rebel: 30 Years of London Fashion’ exhibition,” Kane said. “It reminded him. That exhibition brought back memories for many people. Since then I have had many celebrities ask to borrow something from the archive.” (Full disclosure: I curated that exhibit, featuring four neon-bright bandage, crystal, and ruffled lingerie dresses from Kane’s first show, which I reviewed.)
Chong gave the Kanes studio space to work from Self-Portrait’s extensive headquarters in London’s Clerkenwell. He didn’t want anything to be watered down. “He said, ‘We’ll make it work. I have factories and facilities in Asia.” The quality is simply brilliant. It feels like they are made by hand because they are so detailed. I thought: Wow.” Instead of his original neon colors, he chose sweet baby pastels that match Self-Portrait’s signature palette.
It’s funny to remember how Kane’s first collection became a gleefully sensational fashion shocker. He encouraged girls to dress up, show off and dance, despite depressing times and plain, minimal clothing. All these memories buzzed through the crowd of Kane’s friends and colleagues – Erdem Moralioglu, Henry Holland, Clare Waight Keller, Susie Bubble and Yu Masui – who had experienced it the first time. It’s also funny to think that a whole new generation will now be dancing around in his clothes. Some could even have been born on the day of Kane’s debut: they would be 17, now 18.