Exploring Strength and Softness in Fashion Design: A Look at Colleen Allen’s Vision

In a world where some believe in “iron laws” that favor force, Colleen Allen introduced an alternative vision of strength that cossets and protects the female body. Though the designer’s references, such as her now signature bustles, are often historic, she is interested in finding ways to recreate them as soft sculptures rather than constricting add-ons that control a woman’s form. If movement is a kind of freedom, the pliability of Allen’s garments, some made of a dense terry and a metalized velvet for fall, is at the heart of their modernity.

Traditionally women have been associated with hearth and home (interiors) and men with the great outdoors. Allen, who said she “was personally craving having physical space around me to be creative and to be able to create this sort of protective layer around the process,” was looking at images of Louise Bourgeois in her own apartment as a starting point. Best known for her gigantic metal spider sculptures, the artist also worked with fibers. Creating literal webs of influence Allen recreated the striped and pieced rounds Bourgeois made using her father’s old button-downs, and cut gowns of torn lace that Miss Havisham would have loved.

Another kind of spinning at work in the collection was cocooning. “There are a lot of wrapping gestures,” Allen explained. “For me it’s about creating space around the body, the actual gesture of doing it around yourself creates so many different silhouettes, but also feels more personal.” Some of the collection’s fabric play was pre-configured as in tops in daring shades of persimmon and iris that had an almost kinetic saturation.

Then there was light-absorbing black. There were vampires on Allen’s moodboard, as well as diamond studded bats and a winged Icarus-angel pendant/pin made for the collection by Alice Waese. The designer said she was in a Gothic mood, but it wasn’t one that was menacing or heavy; rather, Allen said, it was more insular and secluded. She added, “I think it’s about the silhouette; putting things in black is really strong, and focusing on this one singular silhouette is important to me.” Emphasizing form, the use of black brings things back to the body, fashion’s alpha and omega.