For some fashion designers taking inspiration from films can be extremely tricky. One of the most dangerous pitfalls of the cinematic inspiration is the fact that it can easily result in garments that borrow very literally from specific scenes and that therefore fall into the "costume" category. While (up to a certain point) this is considered as acceptable when it comes to Haute Couture collections, it is rather impractical in ready-to-wear. Yet there are designers that can pull off the cinematic derivation in intriguing ways.
Hussein Chalayan moved for example from a highly stylish film, Murder on the Orient Express (1974) directed by Sidney Lumet and based on Agatha Christie's eponymous novel, for his Pre-Fall 2015 and Autumn/Winter 2015-16 menswear collections.
The designer wasn't too literal, though, in referencing the film or its main characters: in the collections there are indeed no suits à la Hercule Poirot, and no extravagantly rich feather hats, liquid evening gowns or conservative ensembles like the pieces donned by the main female characters such as Princess Natalia Dragomiroff (Dame Wendy Hiller), Mrs. Harriet Belinda Hubbard (Lauren Bacall), and Greta (Ingrid Bergman).
Chalayan played instead with some of the moods in the film. The Occident Vs Orient dichotomy represented by the journey of the train topically intertwines with Chalayan's biography (impossible not to think about his Cypriot origins, his life in London and his collections showcased in Paris...), a journey that the designer reproduced as a minimalist map-like long line on sweaters.
You could argue that the film's tagline - "The greatest cast of suspicious characters ever involved in murder" - was mirrored in the tailored suits included in the collection and featuring an asymmetrical internal flap that fastened on the front and that conceptually pointed towards duplicity and ambiguity.
While there were mild references to uniforms (maybe hints at the suits donned by Pierre, the conductor), it was actually the wintry scenes of the train stuck in the Balkan snow among the trees that provided wide inspirations for ample and cocooning coats with round shoulders for the Pre-Fall looks and for tailored yet functional jackets and sporty outerwear for men.
The interior design of the passenger carriages also proved inspirational: the bi-coloured patterns of the seats upholstery inspired geometrical prints in black and white or embossed motifs on jumpers and dresses.
While the last design in both the collections, a jumper with a mysterious shape evoked the silhouette of a detective or (more likely) of a murdered body (with 3D fringes spilling out of the image) or maybe the shadows appearing in the chaotic first scenes of the film, the only look that moved more literally from a costume was a white woman's shirt with a panel on the back in which strips of tulle and silvery threads reproduced the beaded motifs on the cardigan worn by Lauren Bacall as Mrs Hubbard in Murder on the Orient Express.
A stylish and humorous story, Murder on the Orient Express has also got a wonderful finale, with a cover up, a struggle (Poirot's) with conscience and a train getting free once again to continue its journey as everyone toasts the outcomes. In a way, it makes for a wonderful metaphor for the fashion show season: so much fuss, fury and suspense, but, essentially, an endless mad journey that keeps on going till the next station/season.
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