Show Report
Think of it as an anti-intellectual conceptualism - you can enjoy these garments just as much with or without the knowledge of the thought processes behind them.
Lutz Huelle - the designer behind the Lutz label - left a short, simple press release on every seat of his venue (as an aside, the rather fabulously retro Espace Pierre Cardin). Written in the first person, it explained his aims behind the collection - 'Soft Armour' - in a simple and straightforward manner. Accustomed to much PR guff around the collections, there was a ring of truth about Lutz's statements. And they rang true in the collection too.
Soft armour was firstly about transposing the ease of a t-shirt into other garments, whether that be a pin-tucked silk frock with an extra armhole, or leggings lacerated into latticework. The armour came in the wrapping of those forms - those leggings were matched with laser-cut tunic tops tied simply around the body. That linked up with his use of tulle, used as a swathing external layer over garments but also an indicator of a general lightness and fluidity about his fabrics, something that also chimed these clothes with the overall feeling for next season. It also allies them with Lutz's style as a whole, likewise the utility of the simple, oversized shapes and easy separates. Think of it as an anti-intellectual conceptualism - you can enjoy these garments just as much with or without the knowledge of the thought processes behind them.
That's not to say they weren't considered: Lutz focused his collection on basic shapes and a simple colour-palette of black and grey, with shots of brilliant violet and a zinging, succulent green. Even when Lutz's urge to layer got ambitious, fusing three or four pieces into a single garment, for example, or wrapping multiple leaves of those cage-like aerated fabrics, it never overwhelmed. A subtle indication of his equally low-key, but valuable, talent.
