Review of Dilara Findikoglu Fall 2023 Fashion Show
Marking Her Territory in No Mans Land
By Angela Baidoo
Natural disasters, acts of terrorism, political unrest, and the death of a head of state, are all things that have woken up the fashion world to the fact that it don’t exist in a vacuum. More recently designers, especially those who have a proud heritage, have taken to responding through their art in times of crisis. Forgoing a show, paying homage with a collection, or simply making a donation.
Having been personally affected by the recent news of the devastating earthquake that has affected both Turkey and Syria, and being that the designer is of Turkish descent, Dilara Findikoglu felt compelled to act, at a time where she admits to feeling helpless and speechless. This led her to ask, within her show notes, for attendees to take an active stance and donate via a QR code to the relief fund, as a way to be a change for the better, something the industry has been trying to come to grips with over the last few years. Following this moment of vulnerability, the shows setting of a former church seemed all the more poignant, as a place where people might have gone to seek refuge in their time of need.
Thinking back on last season and its rampant promotion of the sexual liberation of the female form, a significant number of the designers leaning into the re-emergence of the hyper-sexy 00s trend were men
Returning to Findikoglu’s reason for the season, her show notes outlined the title of the collection as ‘Not A Man’s Territory’ and it didn’t take a giant leap to decipher the designer was referring to women’s bodies. Firstly because the designers handwriting has always revolved around her uncompromising view of the female body in its relation to sex, sexiness, sensuality, and the erotic. And secondly the recent rolling back of laws that govern what women can and can’t do with their body’s.
Thinking back on last season and its rampant promotion of the sexual liberation of the female form, a significant number of the designers leaning into the re-emergence of the hyper-sexy 00s trend were men. From the collections of Balmain, Atlein, Laquan Smith, Dion Lee, David Koma, and Coperni whose buzz-worthy spray-on dress moment involved Bella Hadid first walking on stage with little more than her underwear and her arms as a covering. In todays collection Findikoglu is also asking some of the same questions, in particular “Why men have way too much control over our bodies?”
Deciding to hide her answers within her collection, the designer led us on a ‘Dance of Revolution’ with characters that ran the gamut of ‘Centrefold girl’, ‘Innocence Bondage’, and ‘Not Her for Partriarchy’. As each model entered the hallowed space, they did so at a deliberately slow pace, taking the time to turn, pose, stare down their audience, but mainly in a manner that said look at me, no really look at my body and the way in which it has been encased, contorted and amplified.
The corset, once a tool of control and confinement, in the designers hand feels like it will liberate the wearer. As here it offered a contrast for a voluminous fur coat, peaked out of a tailored mini, created a subversive layering effect, and formed the base for a spot of upcycling utilising dried flowers. There was also the use of veiling in the form of tulle and mesh, as a way to upend the very notion of women having to cover up. Almost every look featured this aspect, leaving no room to second guess that the body and women’s autonomy over it was the focus. A woven cotton shirt overlaid with a mesh hook-and-eye top was a particularly inventive moment of fabric play, notably because it trapped a photo of a pin-up model between the layers.
The corset, once a tool of control and confinement, in Dilara Findikoglu’s hand feels like it will liberate the wearer
Incorporating sustainable practices within her collections has been an important ambition for the designer and in the finale we got two couture-level handcrafted looks which lead the way in showing how everyday household objects can be upcycled and repurposed to create new pieces – a fitted column gown was adorned with ornate silverware, making for a highly conceptual take on the exoskeleton – that are sure to become a key acquisition for any serious fashion archivists looking to invest in the next generation.