Roksanda Ilinčić has always had a thing for architecture. She’s part of an elite club of designers along with Ozwald Boateng and Proenza Schouler who have a flagship designed by renowned architect David Adjaye. And Roksanda herself actually studied architecture and design in Belgrade before moving to London in 1999 to pursue the MA course in womenswear at Central Saint Martins. So her spring/summer 2024 collection, shown this morning at the Grade II listed Barbican Estate in East London and inspired by medieval Serbian Orthodox monasteries, felt like one of her most personal to date.
The Venue:
Roksanda chose the estate — a massive residential complex adjacent to the Barbican performing arts centre, and a key example of Brutalist architecture — to create a juxtaposition with the collection’s mostly fluid silhouettes. Under a sky almost as blue as Roksanda’s lapis dresses, models wound their way around a crescent-shaped terrace block dotted with greenery. The designer said it’s one of her favourite spaces in London.
The Music:
British soprano Isabelle Peters sang Italian, French, and Spanish arias by Puccini, Handel, Jules Massenet, and Fernando Obradors.
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The Front Row:
The FROW was populated by women in London’s creative class, from national treasures Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson to rising stars like singer BEKA, presenter Clara Amfo, and activist Eunice Olumid.
The Collection:
The Barbican Estate was built between 1965 and 1975, but the buildings that served as Roksanda’s SS24 inspiration were considerably older: Studenica, Žiča, and Gračanica, three Serbian Orthodox monasteries constructed between the 12th and 14th centuries (the first two are in modern day Serbia, the later in Kosovo). There was something almost ethereal about the results, which featured intricate techniques like artisanal screen printing and crushed hand-pleating. Roksanda took cues from the traditional robes and flat topped kalimavkion hats and veils worn by Orthodox clergy for the collection’s voluminous silhouettes in fil coupe and printed lamina paired with tonal headgear.
The collection was a study in contrasts, like hard/soft and bold/subtle. Structured jackets and pencil skirts crafted in an Argenta wool-silk melange met flowing dresses draped from languid silk blends and recycled taffeta. Roksanda is a great colorist, and her evocative spectrum featured 24 colors that included brilliant washes of fluorescent pink, tangerine, and limon alongside neutral shades like ecru, elderflower, and chamois. Together they formed a cohesive whole.
