Ute Ploier as the masculine heroine

The display of Ute Ploier's Autumn 2010 collection as photographed by Guenter Parth

We might all be warming up our well relaxed muscles for the impending fashion month but in the middle of stretches and star jumps I encountered a selection of images from last season's presentations that focused my attention back on AW10. Until today, Paris was a distant memory. After hazily looking back over scribbled notes and bookmarked sites it is quite clear that the goings on in the French capital were largely overlooked on these pages. No more. Thanks to the good people of Cultures In Between my eyes have been treated to Ute Ploier's Aw10 presentation and the photography of Guenter Parth. I just had to share them.

Clothes as second skin. Guenter Parth cleverly attibutes Ute's garments as anthropomorphic ensembles.

"What we wear is more than just fabric. It is the idea of how we want to be perceived by others. The fabric, the colour, the details, the styling – everything tells a story about the person wearing it. My collections play with dress codes and crack them up. My work is about liberation because it is about creating more freedom of choice and moving away from stereotypes of masculinity."
Ute Ploier

My favourite look sees a mixture of fine mohair and wools in a black and white flecked blazer, a quilted tartan coat andboxed cut double breasted jacket.

Ute Ploier has always been a designer that thrives on the challenges of menswear, pushing the boundaries in a subtle manner to create garments that can be worn by all types of men. The display demonstrates the designer's preoccupation with craftsmen, the fabrics they wear and the industrial materials that both utilise and create. Despite not having a body to wear them, the designer has created a collection that is full of life. Dealing with male archetypes, boxers or craftsmen, Ploier deconstructs and recreates. Assuredly masculine garments are made, and her stories told, with the utmost respect and precision.

Protected from a downpour. Waxed cotton outer jacket.

The fabrics showcased in these images intensify my longing for the cooler days. The collection of luxurious fabrics from the UK, Italy and Austria reads like my ideal season shopping list. Finest alpaca, mohair, merino wool, waxed cotton, leather, washed Oxford for shirting. While the colour palette is rich and dark, different shades of brown, gold, purple, black, midnight blue, rust all whet my appetite for those moments where boots crush crisp, fallen leaves.

Long sleeved mohair sweater and dark charcoal woolen trousers and gold geometric jewellery

For a few moments I have forgotten all about fashion month and SS11. It is time to live in the near future. It is, almost time to wrap up in layers of soft fabrics and seek protection from waxed cotton and leather. It is time to get excited by Autumn.

Posted in: Designers, Fabric