“WHAT HAPPENS IN GRANDMA’S CLOSET STAYS IN GRANDMA’S CLOSET”
performed at Garage Amelot (Paris) / Ritarihuone (Helsinki) / Location05 (New York)
exhibited at The Alphabet (Paris) / Clarion Sky Hotel (Helsinki)
This collection is a poetic exploration of nostalgia, memory, and the passage of time. Inspired by the wardrobe of a grandfather who sailed the seas and lived a life full of untold stories, the collection reinterprets old sailor wear and the garments that our grandparents might have worn in their youth. This is their secrets and their future, past and present. This is grandma’s closet.
“Wind blowing in my face, sun rays warming up my body. I hear the call of youth. I can taste it. I am floating, the waves take me away, back to my memories.”
Romantic and delicate watercolour hand-painted flower prints, sheer and distressed effect creating Devoré fabric treatments, pastel colours and crochet lace like knits. These romantic and artisanal elements, fabric treatments and textures are inspired by our grandparents' flower dresses, curtains, tablecloths, clothes loved and used and rag rugs on the floors. This is a glimpse of the time when garments had value and longer life span. This collection serves as a tribute to the secrets, wisdom, and lived experiences of older generations, encapsulating the essence of a time when clothes were cherished, repaired, and imbued with meaning.
The theatrical performance of this collection, inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, was an emotional journey through memories and fantasies, blending fashion, performance, and art installation into an immersive dreamlike exploration of fluidity of time, love and identity. The performance aims to create a world where the boundaries between the real world and the fantastical blur. Just as the characters in Shakespeare's play navigate a magical forest where they encounter love, confusion, and transformation, the collection invites the audience to step into the metaphorical “forest” of a grandparent’s closet—a place where memories, secrets, and stories intertwine with the garments that have been worn and cherished over a lifetime.
The performance employed moving imagery projected onto sheer fabrics, both from the backdrop and the clothes, creating an ethereal, otherworldly environment that echoes the enchanted woods of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This technique, combined with the evocative soundtrack of Max Richter’s recomposition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, evokes the passage of time and the cyclical nature of life.
It’s a celebration of the subconscious, where memories are not linear but fluid, where past and present coexist, and where garments are not just pieces of fabric but vessels of lived experience.
Fashion & Textiles: Ka Wa Key Chow, Jarno Leppänen
Performance Director: Jarno Leppäne
Choreographer: Jarno Leppänen
Stylist: Georgia Pendlebury
Hair: Tomohiro Ohashi
Performer: Joris Roosen
Show Production: Brachfeld
PR: OBCM Paris, Social Captial
Major Sponsor: Create Hong Kong