KRISS SOONIK'S SS11 SHOW
This is an article on Kriss Soonik's SS11 Show, with some lovely photographs of the night, that I was lucky enough to attend and review a few months ago.
To purchase this marvellous loungerie visit: www.kriss-soonik.com
Usually, I hate typos, I’m one of those sad sticklers for spelling and grammar, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the most innovative and desirable concept in lingerie at the moment was born from one. If you haven’t guessed already, I’m talking about Kriss Soonik’s ‘Loungerie’ described as a lingerie/loungewear crossover that adds up to outerwear, it is by far the best ‘spelling mistake that stuck’ yet. So when I heard that Kriss was hosting a fashion show for the launch of her new SS11 collection, I simply HAD to get an invite. Luckily enough for me, I did and here’s what happened.
We rolled up to McQueen’s award-wining bar in London’s trendy Old Street (think City Boys living it with their toes dipped just a smidge in grunge) a little too early to be fashionable but anyway, what’s so cool about being late? And just in time to nab a good perch on the back of some over-stuffed leather sofas. At first glance, the bar didn’t impress; exposed brickwork and black crystal chandeliers haven’t been the trademark of chic since the 90s, but there were several interesting features including an orgy of black lacquered mannequins tangling across one wall and a couple of Moulin Rogue stage swings swaying above the runway. Fidgety for the show to begin (reclining across a sofa may seem elegant from the outside, but is in fact far from comfortable) I was glad when a couple of models, one wearing a stag’s head mask, made good use of the swings. Oh, but where was the fashion?
After being thoroughly warmed up by a classically trained ballerina performing feats of flexibility on a dancer’s pole, we were weak with excitement for the runway. This season Kriss has slapped aside the sorbet palette colour trend and boosted the key pinks and oranges right up into neon. This is a welcome relief from the wishy-washy collections we’ve been seeing lately, although, as a large American gentleman behind me remarked ‘who cares what they’re wearing; these girls are HOT!’ but not as hot as that orange! I was pleased to see that Kriss’s style has refined itself over the past two years. Whilst still retaining that bond-girl/manga drama this seasons cuts were much more sophisticated and wearable, featuring asymmetric neck-lines and puffball silhouettes. A classic Soonik feature, the oversized bow, was still very much there, only accented in an alluring gold tone this time. It’s great to see ultra-feminine silks and laces manipulated into modern urban designs, and don’t worry ladies if you love the collection but aren’t quite ready for that powerful colour-way; most items are also available in reserved black or delicate white.
Slipping from the sounds and lights of a show into the eerie quiet of backstage is always disconcerting but was even more so this time as my first sight was the designer herself, sunk deep into the wall and wearing a cloud of shining tears. I was struck by a desperate compulsion to photograph her and capture the moment of ultimate release that comes from months of hard work transforming into success, but managed to restrain myself. I had just decided to crush her into a hug when the crowds swept in and the moment was lost.
In person, Kriss is effortlessly candid and conversational, from informing us that her heroine is her mother: ‘she still freaks me out with her stuff sometimes!’ to ‘orange is also the colour of my boyfriend’s motorbike, you know’. It’s easy to see how this cheerful and quirky collection is simply a reflection of the designer’s personality. But I’m still keen to learn more about the inspiration behind the fabulous colour-palette. Orange is definitely the word for this collection, as Kriss explains with a wide smile, it is representative of the ‘sophisticated aggression’ hidden within women waiting to be released. It’s interesting to hear these fierce words come from the mouth of a delicate blonde dressed in a modest gold-tone button-down dress and to see the spark in her eyes flare and recede. But to break into the small, almost incestuous lingerie industry in this country you have to be diamond hard.
I ask her a little bit about her Estonian roots and she tells me all about how small the fashion industry is in Estonia; her reason for moving to London. ‘If I had stayed in Estonia I don’t know what I’d be doing, probably working for a fashion magazine of something.’ Ooooooo I murmur teasingly, glancing around at the other journalists standing beside me, it takes a moment then she’s grabbing my arm and apologizing, a slight blush risen in her cheeks; ‘No, No, I didn’t mean it like that!’ she exclaimed obviously horrified, ‘quick, Kristel, tell them! Oh, now I’ve blown it...’ As I quickly reassured her that I was merely teasing I couldn’t help being won over by her charm. Finally, I ask her to complete the sentence: Fashion is... She laughs, ‘I’m always saying this, but you’ll have to star it out. Fashion is a b****!’
Fashion may be a b**** but if there’s one thing I’ve learned tonight then it’s that Kriss Soonik isn’t. And in this industry that’s an attitude that will take her to the top.
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