Have you ever been in the presence of something so detailed, so impeccably made, so perfect that you just have to stand there and take it all in? For some this might be a 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder, or an Hermes Matte Crocodile Birkin Bag, or Chanel’s Fall/Winter 2014/15 Haute Couture collection. Like I said, there are no words. All you can do is stand there and appreciate.
Paul Vasileff’s magical Paolo Sebastian Autumn/Winter 2015 collection, The Sleeping Garden, is much the same. When the Glam team walked into the Paolo Sebastian showroom yesterday to view collection, we were speechless. There were no words. We were not prepared for this.
All eighteen pieces in The Sleeping Garden collection are adorned with elaborate beadwork and embroidery; much of it taken from hand-sketched designs by twenty four year old designer Vasileff. Each tiny bead is hand-drawn into every sketch. Vasileff says that whilst each design takes mere minutes to sketch, each piece’s detailed bead work design took him weeks to draw.
The South Australian fashion label, famous for its attention to detail, has gone above and beyond with The Sleeping Garden. The designs, featuring delicate three-dimensional blossoms, willow branch beading and romantic bow detailing, has been hand sewn by the very beaders who bead for iconic fashion houses such as Elie Saab and Givenchy.
Stand outs of the collection include the intricately embroidered bronze jumpsuit with flowing winged sleeves of which Kendall Jenner is bound to snap up in a heart beat, a striking tailored coat fit for a Cate Blanchett red carpet moment, and a luminous silver floor length sleeved gown, so seamless and flowing that it looks as if it has been created by magic.
The Sleeping Garden is glamourous and romantic, but it is also a little dark and mysterious. That duality is captured in the campaign images, which were shot at sunset in the national woodlands. Vasileff said that “working on location is always a risk, but we knew that this collection needed to have the wild, dreamlike quality.” And they certainly do.
This collection is fluid and sumptuous and extravagant and moreish. In a word, it is couture. Vasileff’s work looks like it was made in a Parisien design house – it just has that quality. But in fact it, is not. It is South Australian and it is South Australian couture at its very best. Magnifique.
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