\n\tEmilia Wickstead was ecstatic \u2014 and incredulous \u2014 talking backstage about her fall muse: the French model and actress Fano Messan, who in the Roaring 1920s had to pretend to be a man in order to become an apprentice sculptor.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat explained the languid, Armani-esque tailoring in a variety of menswear checks, the rugged denim shirts, the smock-like leather jacket with the middy collar and the bookish allure of some of the models.<\/p>\n
\n\tDuring her research, Wickstead became enchanted with Messan\u2019s story and her androgynous style, which was cemented when she portrayed a hermaphrodite in Luis Bu\u00f1uel\u2019s first film.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI wanted to show her uniform, but I also wanted her to feel liberated,\u201d the designer said backstage. \u201cShe wasn\u2019t allowed to be herself, and I want her to be recognized today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tTo be sure, Wickstead gave her fantasy version of Messan plenty of options, from the retro allure of the tailored coats and blousons in nubby tweeds to carwash shirts and neat leather suits where snug little jackets met lean pencil skirts.<\/p>\n
\n\tThis was a no-frills show in Wickstead\u2019s Sloane Street boutique, which attracted a sizable crowd peering in through the windows on a rare sunny Sunday afternoon in London.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe drab colors and bulky fits of some of the clothes ultimately yielded to more dramatic, precisely cut gowns in showy fabrics like silver lame and lavender lace. They had a sculptural quality.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Emilia Wickstead was ecstatic \u2014 and incredulous \u2014 talking backstage about her fall muse: the French model and actress Fano Messan, who in the Roaring 1920s had to pretend to be a man in order to become an apprentice sculptor. That explained the languid, Armani-esque tailoring in a variety of menswear checks, the rugged denim shirts, the smock-like leather jacket with the middy collar and the bookish allure of some of the models. During her research, Wickstead became enchanted with Messan\u2019s story and her androgynous style, which was cemented when she portrayed a hermaphrodite in Luis Bu\u00f1uel\u2019s first film. \u201cI wanted to show her uniform, but I also wanted her to feel liberated,\u201d the designer said backstage. \u201cShe wasn\u2019t allowed to be herself, and I want her to be recognized today.\u201d To be sure, Wickstead gave her fantasy version of Messan plenty of options, from the retro allure of the tailored coats and blousons in nubby tweeds to carwash shirts and neat leather suits where snug little jackets met lean pencil skirts. This was a no-frills show in Wickstead\u2019s Sloane Street boutique, which attracted a sizable crowd peering in through the windows on a rare sunny Sunday afternoon in London. The drab colors and bulky fits of some of the clothes ultimately yielded to more dramatic, precisely cut gowns in showy fabrics like silver lame and lavender lace. They had a sculptural quality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12371"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}