"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening" - Coco Chanel
"Dressing is a way of life" - YSL
The ideas these words convey for me how fashion is to find your rhythm, your joie-de-vivre, and give it expression in your wardrobe. So it is with these two quotes in mind that I turn to todays treat: Erin Fetherston. Stumbling upon her in an Australian Vogue some years ago, I fell in love not with her fashion line, but with her Paris apartment. Sensuously and sumptuously appointed, her environs appear suspended in a state of perpetual tea parties sweetened with impromptu dancing and accompanied by a three-tiered assortment of giggles.
It is not until recently that I have fallen for her fashion line as well, and most particularly taken with the long black V-neck which falls away into a wild garden before grazing the floor from her Fall/Winter 2008 collection. As do most flowery, flowy designers, the nonchalant city girl who tends to daydream a little too much aesthetic reminds me of Chloé. But unlike the Chloé girl who, to me, lives in the city and sometimes finds herself in the country, I find that Erin Fetherston creates a story of a country girl who finds her way to the city. There is something more natural and organic in the way she completes her pieces – whether it be in the fabrics, the prints, or the silhouette – something that is a constant throughout her collections. This baseline consistency is what has reminded me of the above quotes; by finding a particular rhythm in her life, Erin Fetherston has created a world of fashion that is true to an idea beyond the trends of the moment. Without a doubt, there is a great deal of trendiness in her creations, such as the dark floral patterns for fall, but they are not the driving force to her collection, they are merely the eye candy of a much grander display.
