This London Fashion Week, Pauline Dujancourt transforms grief into a creative act of release. Following the death of a close friend in her personal life, the designer draws on the character of Nina from Chekhov’s play The Seagull, who compares herself to that titular bird. A resilient character who ultimately finds strength in art.

Bird symbolism resounds throughout. The image of folded wings are found in the soft draping of dresses, whilst feather-like strips of tulle flutter with the suggestion of flight. More voluminous silhouettes emerge through the interplay of textures, as argyle knit and crochet “granny squares” are woven throughout, paired against mesh and sheer lace. This volume, created without the need for heavy structures, allows for a weightless, suspended feel to the garments. 

Contrast, like that between joy and grief, is embodied in colour. The show begins with a starkly bright white dress, only to be immediately shadowed by one in mourning black. Later dresses diverge from this duochromatic palette into a range of blues. Royal, navy and midnight blues eventually soften into a pale-lilac blue that remind me of the first cracks of light at dawn. The colour story of the show speaks to the way that grief cycles unpredictably, transforming those it touches. In a full-circle moment, we end again with a white dress, but this time, lace escapes the confines of its garment and spreads across the model’s face. Through this eerie yet ethereal, almost alien look, a deeply human experience is captured. 

In a final act which defies the isolating and solitary pull of grief, the audience becomes a part of the performance. Inspired by a poem where denial eventually breaks into acceptance, Dujancourt had crocheted 450 small birds to be worn by the audience as brooches. As the final claps dissipate and we file out, dispersing back across the city, these birds fly with us. Together, we perform the act of letting go.

I told them, Go. 
All of you. Go.
And they went. And they didn’t come back. 
J.S. Foer

Words By: Carolina Fernandez
Images Courtesy: B The Agency