Francisco Van Benthum was inspired by pre-revolutionary Russia for this season's collection, translating the opulence of the imperial court and the romance of the Slavic traditional clothes into a contemporary design. Aptly entitled 'Tsar', the collection exudes a folkloristic feel, proposing suits, coats, jackets, knitwear, pants, shirts and tops in luxe fabris -cashmere loden wools, flannels, fine cotton poplins, silks, waxed cotton, soft lurex shirtings and silk and cashmere for light knits. A series of shirts and tops were developped by using traditional moulage techniques. Continuing his experimentation with shape and constructions, Francisco van Benthum emphasized volume and proportion, opting for oversized round silhouettes and a return to the high waist that he introduced in his previous collection, this time in a very rich color palette of brown, gold, beige, cream, black, gray to orange and red together with the use of traditional handcrafts in the execution of some of the pieces. This collection was made possible with the support of the Netherlands Foundation for arts, design & architecture (Fonds BKVB), Mondriaan Foundation and Co-lab, laboratory for fashion and strategy.
