Daniel Del Core was working on reduction for the fall. Picking up the vibe of his spring show, there was a certain clarity in silhouettes and conciseness in his approach to the construction here. But because he loved adventure, he experimented with unusual shapes, trying to regenerate predictable templates. “My imagination works like a laboratory,” he said.
Del Core has never met a microorganism he didn’t like: fungi, lichens, fungi, algae, bacteria, insects – they’re all part of his fantastic petri dish. Even his most visually sedate pieces exude a kind of unsettling sci-fi glamour. An example of this was a bonded jersey bustier with pointed breasts protruding upward, reminiscent of the thorns of a rose or the horns of the Caucasus beetle, an alarming-looking scarab with a shiny black carapace. The larvae are tender and gummy, and on a recent trip to Peru he was offered them as a gourmet treat at a dinner party. The polite and not so prudish Del Core agreed and tasted the delicacy.
The rather disturbing experience led him to think about how a protective shield often hides deep vulnerabilities. It translated into a play of stiff fabrics that resist malleable textures, as in an elongated strapless evening dress, cut straight and radiating a certain stiff attitude, the right side of which erupted in an unruly waterfall of trembling wool threads, ‘like lichen emerging from the bark oozes’. of a tree,” as the designer put it. Similarly, the lapels of a severe, boxy black pantsuit stretched lazily into long flaps “like pods breaking open or like a doll shedding its layers,” he said. Some looks were topped by an elongated black felt headdress that shadowed the face and alluded to the triangular shape of the head of a praying mantis, the femme fatale of the invertebrate family that famously eats its mate after sex.
Inspired by less ominous creatures was a short red bustier dress, styled like the flowing petals of an orchid. A fan of pleated pleats extended from an egg-shaped cocoon skirt; 3D tufted pom-poms grew on net gloves or mohair knits, mimicking clumps of moss in the damp forests. Del Core’s wedding dress proposal was a long, tight tunic in white lace with abstract botanical motifs that he likened to crystallized flowers, covered in a soft cape armor with a triangular padded bustier that flowed into a flowing dress.
Del Core’s special entomological eye has attracted celebrities such as Beyoncé and Björk, with whom he regularly collaborates. Björk looked otherworldly in one of his soft-shell creations at a recent concert in Nantes, France.
