https://www.youtube.com/embed/J09N7Gw1O6w
One of the most exciting things about Imane Ayissi, is I always think elegance, I always think style. But there's something deceptively simple about his silhouette, so they're always very eye-catching. So this wonderful fuchsia pink ensemble is by the couturier Imane Ayissi, who's originally from the Cameroon, and one of the key features of Imane Ayissi's work is this wonderful coming together of textile traditions from the continent, so you see here this fabulous Cameroonian raffia, and he blends that with Parisian haute couture details, so it's almost this coming together of two worlds that you see. But to really understand the beauty of this form, we need to see it flat. We need to understand how Imane Ayissi has created this. One of the things that I love about Imane Ayissi is once you know that his background was as a ballet dancer, you start to see this understanding of the way that the body moves in the way that he cuts his work, so this piece is wonderful, very simple at first glance, three metre length of silk and raffia trim comes to life when it's worn, so you get a sense of his understanding of the body and movement.
Whether that's the sound that the raffia makes for example or the fluidity of the silk. These wonderful circles that you see here these are actually the armholes, so you put your arms through it and then you swathe the fabric around you. You also get the sense of his mother's influence. So Imane Ayissi's mother was the first Miss Cameroon, so also known as Miss Independence, so this was in 1960. So in fact he learned his first cutting skills by dismantling her garments and reconstructing them, then eventually making clothes for her. But you do get a sense of someone that has lived with women that are elegant. It's really interesting to try and discover how it's been made, because it is deceptively simple. But I know that raffia – bagging out raffia and silk is actually quite tricky. But what's gorgeous is it's so neatly made.
There are no raw edges anywhere. All of the ends of the raffia have been sandwiched between the two layers of silk. Normally when you bag out a garment or a shawl like this one you always have to have, or you have to leave an opening, through which you turn the garment or you turn the shawl through to create this lovely neat finish. We can't find the join! So we've searched this this piece and we cannot find the join. It's so neatly handmade. One of the things that I love about this piece, and one of the first things I notice is the length of the raffia. You can tell by the length of the raffia and the evenness of the raffia that he's clearly using the best quality. So imagine a palm leaf. The tip and the base are the shortest lengths of the leaf – of the fibre. But the middle sections are always the most expensive because they're the longest. And so what's lovely is that you have these lovely long lengths of raffia that he's used on this garment, rather like many of the traditionally wrapped garments or the simple rectangular garments like the agbada the toghu or the boubou, you have to stand tall and to be able to wear them.
You have to be aware of your body to be able to keep them looking good, so you get this sense of an appreciation of a strong woman standing tall, with poise, with elegance – to be able to carry off this deceptively simple style that he has. So I think he has an understanding of silhouette as well as the body and movement, which you'll see with this piece when we look at it on the mannequin. What's really exciting about this ensemble it's made of two pieces. The top in inverted commas, and the tailored trousers. So the top's actually the the rectangle – that long three metre length of silk that we saw, and it's been almost put on in a reverse fashion.
So you've put your arms through, and then this neckline is created by the fold of fabric as it falls down and then lands around at your waist level. And then this is then pulled around to the back. You can see it following the line of the body here. It comes around and is secured by the tiny hook and eye fastening and these rouleau loops that keep it in place around your shoulders. I love the way that the fabric circles the body and almost encloses the body – encases it – and the way it flows around the arm to create that waterfall effect and that swoop of fuchsia pink silk at the back.
It's almost aquiline. You get a sense of her almost frozen in motion, and the fluidity of the silk is just gorgeous the way it falls around your arms. Underneath it's worn with this fabulous pair of wide leg tailored trousers, beautifully cut, beautifully balanced – a high waist design you can see here, it comes right up into this above the small of the back, way above the waist. So again these touches that for me are markers of elegance. I do love the way that he's playing with textures. You get the rustle of the raffia and then you he fuses that with a lovely shot silk – that sheen of the shot silk and that fabulously sharp crease in the trouser, so it's a wonderful use of subtle texture there. What's lovely is that you can rearrange the drape and have more of the raffia showing if you want to, for a more dramatic effect at the back. Looking more closely at the overall silhouette it's wonderfully dramatic, but I think you also get a sense of Imane Ayissi's influences. And he cites as his influences couturiers like Givenchy or Balenciaga, Madeleine Vionnet, and I think particularly in this ensemble, I think with the draping – that lovely fold swooping down into the waterfall at the back is an element of Vionnet about that.
But I think the structure – that almost boat neck – almost 50's boat neck effect that he's created through the fold, for me, is a reminder of Balenciaga. The thing that marks Imane Ayissi out for me is – yes he's chosen to be part of the couture system, but he's always very vocal about wanting to dress all women and taking references from many cultures. That for me marks him out amongst many of the other creatives on the continent – this cleaving to cultural mixing, this desire to dress all women. And in doing so rewriting what African fashions can be..
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