The minute we stepped backstage at Kate Sylvester we knew that this was the one. The one we had been waiting all day for. We pushed past that heavy black curtain and emerged somewhere completely different, a calm, collected backstage area populated by the kind of clothes we frequently dream of. The models were off doing their last run-through but suddenly we weren't interested in them anymore. In fact, we didn't want them to return, because we were quickly and hastily hatching plans to steal everything and never return. The navy blue baseball cap with the buttery leather peak, paired with one of those brown seamed bodysuits and a wide-reaching circle skirt for a laid back summer day spent lolling about on chaise lounges or beach towels or cool patches of grass. In fact, this collection was made for lolling about - in the manner of its inspiration, Marilyn Monroe - across crisp pool chairs (perhaps in look 13, a pair of high-waisted black knickers and a beaded beige cardigan, topped off with a cool fuschia lip?), on the back of an oversized suede sofa while someone prepares cocktails (look 38's innocent-as-a-rose plisse-pleated white nightgown would do the trick, a little nod to her famous pleated gown in the Seven Year itch), or, a la Bert Stern's The Last Sitting (which also lends its name to the collection), sprawled languid and sanguine, caught in the wink and the smile of wine-hastened repose, across a sheer bedsheet in very little else. Surely, the last look out the gate, worn by Julia Nobis, a completely sheer seamed dress with a prim capsleeve silhouette is the ticket.
"That bittersweet balance is what we went for," Sylvester told us before the show. "The collection is all about the contradictions of Marilyn Monroe - the fragility and the complexity of her life. She was so full of joy but she was also full of sadness as well." Joy in the delicately rendered floral appliques, the sweetly innocent bra-lets, the naivete of Norma Jean, fresh-faced in a swimsuit at the beach. Sadness can be found in the fragility and the feminity that pierces through the collection, even in the masculine suiting looks, inspired by Monroe's third husband Arthur Miller. That infamous hourglass shape, squeezed into leather skirts and flashy lurex sweaters that popped as the flashes in the pit went off. Even those white looks at the end seem to tell a contradictory story. Is this an innocent Marilyn or a doomed one? Is this a playful moment or one more sinister? These questions seemed to thread their way through the collection and ensured that, as was Sylvester's intention, it never strayed into the realm of costume or anthropology. Rather than a straight rendition of the Marilyn we know and love, the collection interpreted this aspect of complexity for the modern wardrobe. Sylvester's Marilyn, all 21st century woman, might, in fact, stride out to meet Joe Dimaggio, baseball-seamed pencil skirt and all.
And that's what made this collection instantly loveable, from that first minute we stepped backstage. We, as modern day women, could see each and every piece slotting effortless into our wardrobes, could already picture ourselves kitted out in the entire collection, spritzing Chanel No.5 and adopting a little bit of that marvelous, bubbly, all-eyes-on-me quality that we can only call effervescence. Everybody loves Marilyn. But it's not for the reasons that you might think. It's not really for the drama or the tragedy, the films (Sylvester's favourite is Some Like It Hot, in case you were wondering), the famous lovers, the glamour. It's not even for the beauty, really. It's for her humanity, her perfect humanity. Third husband (our favourite!) the playwright Arthur Miller said it best, when he mused, "she was a whirling light to me then, all paradox and mystery." Well, this collection was a whirling light to us, the stuff that dreams are made of, the kind of thing you know instantly will be a hit, so fresh and young and lovely, so tragic and fragile and true, that - not matter how hard you try - you simply cannot look away.
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This is our second review of Day 2! See Day one reviews for Camilla and Marc, Christopher Esber and Romance Was Born. See our first review of Day 2 for Karla Spetic on Talisa's blog! Keep your eyes on our blogs and instagrams for full coverage of MBFWA.
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