A version of this article was published on January 22, 2016
Pauline Kael, the New Yorker’s late, great film critic, dubbed David Lynch as ‘the first popular surrealist’. Although this was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the ubiquity of the Lynch canon – and its influence which creeps across so much art and culture – is worth pondering. Often described as cult, the Lynchian following is more than just obsessive fans (although these, of course, come in their thousands) – here is an auteur whose visual and directorial voice so deftly critiques the perceived perfection of middle America’s middle classes, something which strikes chords with so many of his viewers.
From Twin Peaks to Wild at Heart and Blue Velvet, it’s the beauty and the sense of the uncanny found lurking beneath the banal surface of white picket fence suburbia that Lynch so brilliantly communicates through his work, that has made his name rightfully popular, beyond the niches of cult. Here we look at how Lynch – with his unparalleled visions of American reality and surreality – has informed some of fashion’s favourite frontrunners.
Nightmares and Dreams was the name Simons gave his first collection under the auspices of the global titan Dior. Obscure and oversized American varsity sweaters clothed the boys who wandered through the maze-like space, often touching the audience members. Much like a rehashing of Agent Cooper’s crucial dream sequences in the show, it was both visually and atmospherically Lynchian. Not to mention the voice of Angelo Badalamenti discussing his collaboration with the director droning over the speakers, in replacement for music. “I always like making beautiful things,” Simons told Dazed, “but it’s also interesting when something goes wrong, something’s weird, something’s dark… there’s very much this contrast.” And that’s totally Lynch.
Comme des Garçons SS1627 Images
If the blue velvet of Comme des Garçons SS16 was anything to go by, Rei Kawakubo had been touched by Lynch’s cinematic work. In fact, the soundtrack of Blue Velvet underpinned the entire show, mixed by fashion’s favourite runway composer Frederic Sanchez. For the collection, Kawakubo was inspired by witches, misunderstood women shunned by society – not dissimilar to Isabella Rosellini’s character Dorothy Vallens from the 1986 film.
The soundtrack and set for Kenzo’s AW14 womenswear collection were in fact a collaboration between Lynch and the brand’s creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim. From funhouse mirror-lined walls, to another maze-like set, Lynch said that he “wanted to try and get a different feel for a runway show, having mystery and emotion swimming together.” Models’ reflections became warped, adding an extra layer of mysteriousness atop the already twisted silhouettes of ballooned skirts over full-tailored suits, or trousers over a pullover beneath an opera coat. Lynch’s influence was particularly evident in the Black Lodge-esque black and red zig-zag patterns. Kenzo’s AW14 campaign, directed by Toilet Paper, was also obtuse in its references to Lynch’s penchant for American glamour-slash-trash.
Miuccia Prada’s AW13 womenswear collection was a neo-noir take on unexpected femininity, with wet-haired girls who wore dresses half hanging off their shoulders. As Tim Blanks pointed out, they resembled one specific character from the Lynch universe – Mulholland Drive’s brunette beauty Rita. But the soundtrack (taken from Betty Blue) pointed to another character – Betty, the fresh-faced actress and the film’s lead, played by Naomi Watts. It was her spirit (and her identity crisis, that underscores the movie’s dark descent into Hollywood) that Prada and Steven Meisel channelled for the season’s campaign, constructed around the premise of an audition. Like Betty’s famous audition scene in Lynch’s film, Prada’s women are there to prove they aren’t the girls you had them pinned as.
A 2010 John Galliano-era campaign for the iconic Lady Dior Bag, this 16-minute sleeping and waking sequence stars a confused, lovesick Marion Cotillard (what’s new?) piecing together clues from dreams of her past and the appearance of a strange blue Lady Dior bag in her hotel room. Written, directed and edited by Lynch himself, the melding of dreams and realities is a trope that runs right through the entirety of the director’s annals, informing even his work with Dior. Usually glossy – remember L.A.dy Dior by John Cameron Mitchell? – Lynch’s take on the brand and the bag remains grainy, imperfect and surreal in its focus.
It seems that, like many of us, when undergoing a creative metamorphosis, Raf Simons often reaches Lynch’s unparalleled work. Just like his post-Dior AW16 show, Simons sought solace in the Lynchian landscape for AW19, just one month after his shock exit from Calvin Klein. Back in January 2019, Simons kicked things off by mailing out photographs of Laura Dern’s character in Blue Velvet as invitations, and on the day Dern herself was sitting front row. The collection that followed debuted slouchy knits and floor-length macs with stills from Lynch films hemmed onto them, which Dern, a close friend of Simons, reportedly helped him gain usage rights. Elsewhere, the spirit of Lynch was telegraphed through boxy tailoring, surrealist headgear and the tense, five-minute intermission that featured an eerie light show and blaring, instrumental noise.
With the Twin Peaks 2017 reboot just months away, MSGM’s Massimo Giorgetti invited us into the Black Lodge, recreating the liminal space at his AW17 show location. Models walked the chevron-striped runway in prints that mirrored the black and white floor, while pine trees and owls also dominated the collection. Elsewhere, lily-white tulle dresses intentionally echoed the plastic tarpaulin Laura Palmer’s body was found wrapped in, while rose flowers adorned boots, tops and prairie dresses, a reference to Twin Peaks’ ‘Blue Rose’ murder cases, where paranormal activity was often present.
While the MacLaclanaissance was well and truly underway, Jun Takahashi decided to hop on board by plastering Kyle MacLachlan’s Twin Peaks character all over his AW24 men’s collection. Not only did Agent Cooper appear embroidered on the back of an oversized bomber jacket, but was also stitched onto shirts, suits and denim, while the icon Twin Peaks road sign was used as a print for another jacket. But Takahashi didn’t stop there – opposing images of Laura Palmer’s school photo and pale corpse also featured throughout, as did recurring motifs of spooky pines on puffers and totes. And the collection’s title, Wonderful and Strange, was also taken from an Agent Cooper quote, when the detective muses “I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.”
