The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2024 - Issue 36

bitecatwalk I f there’s one thing about Vin and Omi’s catwalk show, their designs embody the consciousness of organic movement. While colours, textures, fabrics, and silhouettes are seldom repeated, each presentation shares an ebb and flow rarely seen outside the natural world. These designs could be encapsulated by the word ‘collection’ as their 20th anni- versary highlights everything they have absorbed in their collaboration with King Charles III. Every garment reflects the designers’ observations at the Sandringham estate. Some pieces served as solutions, and others demonstrate humanity’s impact on nature’s ancient order. All the looks in this show paid careful attention to how fabric moved on the body, highlighting its surrounding environment’s strength and gentle hand. The collection opened with a contem- porary dancer clad in a bright pink dress crafted from fabric resembling stretch cells. As she danced hauntingly down the catwalk, the fabric (made from plastic waste provided by leading art brand Daler-Rowney) elongates and shrinks, mimicking the bonds in the plastic textile. It serves as a reminder of the cellular structures in all things and textile’s microfibre-free bonds, giving waste plastic a safer second life. The catwalk showcased an understanding of fabric that could only come from a fashion house com- mitted to empowering eco-conscious materials. This expertise is evident when restrictive looks are juxtaposed with some of Vin and Omi’s free-form pieces. For example, one model walked the runway in a free-flowing baby pink dress covered in web-like yarn spindles, epitomising the structure’s delicate side. The next model, wearing a heavy open jacket and trousers with an earthy camouflage print, presented an unyielding silhouette featuring gunshot wound details—an ode to humanity’s role in the harshest aspects of nature, such as death. By following this graphic reminder with a dress depicting birds’ flight, Vin and Omi juxtaposed the two sides of Earth and two vastly different approaches to the fabric. Though a few looks told the same sto- ry, the collection resonated in unison about an eco-friendlier future. Vin and Omi’s message continues to use recy- cled fabrics. This collection, imitating nature’s duality, reminded the audience of a return to balancing clothing and human habits—equal parts brutal and delicate. Vin and Omi have created a message for organic movement that gives as much as it takes. www.vinandomi.com