There’s a party at the edge of life, where life meets death, and Genaro Rivas has envisioned it himself. At the London Fashion Week, the Peruvian designer debuted his SS26 collection, “ A Golden Shroud,” with inspiration from his visits to the San Juan Bautista de Huaro and how he culturally views the genesis of death as an idea, selectively recreating murals to encapsulate the power of myth, meaning and interpretation. Translate the sketches and the encryptions into denim washes and peculiar prints, and you’ve concocted an experimental collection that celebrates theatrics as much as it celebrates its cultural roots in defining circular fashion.
“I like to see AGS as an interaction. An iteration from the past two collections in terms of experimentation and processes”, Rivas emphasises reusing patterns and materials from his previously celebrated collections, namely “A Feast For Crows,” and “Alchemy of Ashes” ,and refining the art of 3-D printing in a generous capacity to bring his latest. When asked about his inspiration and the prominence of Baroque golds, reds and blues throughout the show, Rivas adds to the details by highlighting the inclusion of golden walls to bring in an ethereal contrast to the other wise stark and bold colors of the collection and work of arts being engraved into denim pants. Aside from denim, bold prints on infernal symbology, with floor-length braids running the course to an electronic track, “A Golden Shroud” did not hesitate to incorporate cloaks and ravenous outfits to the ominous environment.
On the iconic washes on denim, the young designer enthusiastically adds, “I find denim a really interesting field to play. I think that AFFC was my first experience with this material, and in AGS I felt more keen to experiment a bit more. I have so many ideas for future denim iterations, it's a fun field to play and innovate which draws me very much.” With clean cuts and arm fringes, boudoir strutting parallel to denim, the inferno in Rivas’s work is revitalising, transformative and liberating.
Playing into theatrics, the study into the collection is incomplete without addressing the visual premise. Established by nuanced elements such as red and blue winged eyes to visible strands of baby hair, and alluring cloth-braids, the shroud’s vision comes into play with spiky accessories, clerical veils and sacred iconography. For visual synergy, Rivas emphasises the collaborative spirit of the collection, saying, “Well, since February, Richard, the lead hairstylist, and I have been in talks to create a visual thread for the year and bring this to the hair. This vision was executed perfectly also by the makeup team led by Manuel de Castro. This is my fourth collaboration with the Richard Phillipart team, six overall and second with Manuel. Both of their teams joined me in Berlin during the Berlin Fashion Week presentation of AFFC, later to the July presentation in London and for the show last week. I think it's all about trust in the people that make your vision come to life, and allowing them a space to interpret your vision and make it better, elevating it with their knowledge and talent.”
Moreover, when asked about sustainability and what he wishes to see next in the industry of cyclic fashion, Rivas says, “I would love to see more proposals, more edgy sustainable proposals, that's what we need to bring more awareness and make sustainability and circularity cool, not just a fad or not just in the same colour scheme. There's technology to bring a creative point of view with a sustainable conception. Which is something I'm trying to do, collection after collection. It also needed the support from the media and, of course, buyers who are interested in bringing these points of view to their stores and supporting our upcoming and emerging designers to get to the next level and hopefully break the glass ceiling in fashion.”
