BDMOTP did an article on Julius quite recently and were impressed at that time with his many shades of black, and his positive Zen philosophy of the different shades of darkness – and we were impressed with the dark goggles in the private collection and we determined it was like something out of the film the Matrix Reloaded –, so no surprise that the runway show of Julius SS16 turned out to be equally challenging and interesting.

Setting of the runway was a gothic looking revamped medieval church (yes, they exist in Paris) and waiting outside to get in it becomes clear that Julius has a rather arcane large following of ‘disciples’ of fashion lovers who like to go dressed in the typically recognizable Julius style and see the show. A select crowd thus and the venue was good.

So proved the show itself and no surprise then that rather than zen, this show boasted several other spiritual forms of heritage ranging from magic to cabbalistic, to shaman.  But it is this latter qualification (shamanism) that BDMOTP would chose for you if we had to explain to it because the entire show was decidedly tribal in its forms and connotations.

Body paint. Ritual walks. Ritual sounds. Ritual dress and wear. Long dress and gown in tribal and dark colors but also in white. Lots of browns and shades of earthy brown. Sturdy and earthy materials. No garlands worn but tree trunks. Hey, why not wearing a tree trunk! As long as it fits.

All of this was beautifully choreographed on something which was not exactly music but more a deep cacophony of tribal sound. Think of a giant metallic post-modern didgeridoo playing and moving, waxing and waning with sounds all emanating in one great crescendo.  And then a deep tribal silence. The silence of the wilderness.

Special tribal mention is reserved for the piece of clothing which we shall dub ‘the tent’ – a giant walking human wing in ritual patterns of black and white.  It may sound crazy but this magic and ritual dress kind of fit and carried the whole show. We were witnessing some alien form of tribal initiation. The gods and the spirits must be appeased. Or to speak with the Julius press release:

In the desert, like wind, they wander. Dry sand, weathered stone, rotten flower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by Sandro and photos by Mous.