Minimalism meets American sportswear at Matthew Ames this morning, a Art Institute of Chicago graduate and Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award winner. Inspirations included the color blocking of abstract painter Elsworth Kelly, the geometry of modernist Agnes Martin and the movement of choreographer Merce Cunningham.
Ames intended for the various elements–color and shape–come together like interlocking puzzle pieces engaged in a choreographed dance. A dress in fluid silk in pink stands out as an individual expression against a black and white blocked coat with sculptural folds like geometric wings, as though it were a single dancer moving with respect to another dancer across the floor.
In the clutter of commercialism and crass that is New York fashion week, Ames is a pin-drop quiet voice whose austere vision provides some solace.
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