Staying power: chain mail
Donatella Versace must surely have faced a dilemma planning her S/S ’18 show. When the cruise-speed of the house you represent is already ultra-ultraglam, how do you dial things up a notch? And what on earth do you dress the most super of supermodels in when you’ve got the whole of the Versace archive to play with? Well, you turn to the fiercest fabric of all: chain mail.
For the surprise supermodel finale of her most recent show (this last round’s most-talked about, most Instagrammed moment), Donatella opted to dress Cindy, Naomi, Claudia, Carla and Helena in silhouette-skimming liquid gold gowns, reinterpretations of Gianni’s 1994 Oroton mesh dresses. The effect was warrior goddesses descended straight from Mount Olympus on their way to Studio 54. Or in other words, wow!
Chain mail is having a moment – which means now we mere mortals can also pull off the coup of being sexy, glamorous and powerful all at once. According to fashion search engine Lyst, searches for ‘chain-mail tops’ have increased by 60% over the past six months (silver is the most popular colour, followed by black and then gold) – and you couldn’t miss it shimmering along the A/W ’17 catwalks. From Emilio Pucci’s molten gold dress to Alexander Wang’s mesh tees to Aquilano Rimondi’s burnished bronze shift, the roster is as diverse as it is dazzling. At JW Anderson boxy tees and fluid silks were spliced with mesh inserts, while Paco Rabanne’s Julien Dossena opted for draped metallic midis with a cool, almost sporty sensibility.
Of course, the house Dossena designs for is indelibly associated with chain mail. Born
in Spain in 1934, Paco Rabanne rose to prominence in the ’60s as one of the architects of Space Age fashion, alongside André Courrèges and Pierre Cardin. More creative revolutionary than traditional couturier, his fondness for unconventional materials was evidenced in the 1966 breakthrough collection, Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials, which included radical designs in metal and plastic discs joined together by wire. Enter: chain mail as you know it.
The innovative approach of ‘ Wacko Paco’ (as he was nicknamed thanks to some of his more outré opinions) somewhat befuddled the establishment, with Coco Chanel cattily dismissing him as ‘the metallurgist’. Clients were more openminded, however: French chanteuse Françoise Hardy, art collector Peggy Guggenheim and Brigitte Bardot were just a handful of the glitterati who favoured his brave, brilliant designs.
What’s striking looking at those original ’60s Rabanne pieces is how modern they still look. As Dossena notes, this is part of the metal mesh’s contradictory appeal: ‘It evokes this really ancient primal barbarian feeling and is also a taste of super techno modernist fabric.’ No surprise, then, that Jane Fonda was another Rabanne girl; she wore his chain-mail corsets for her role as 41st-century space adventurer Barbarella.
Despite that futuristic aesthetic, the origins of chain mail go back way further, to medieval armour. Rabanne’s original inspiration was worlds away from Bardot and Barbarella: Joan of Arc. Numerous designers have drawn on the battle-ready strength implied by chain mail over the years, from Alexander Mcqueen’s A/W ’98 Joan collection to Azzedine Alaïa’s leather latticing, right up to Olivier Rousteing’s Balmain army, who wore dresses garnished with gold chains in A/W ’17’s show. Chain mail makes warriors of its wearers, offering a fortifying sense of protection and empowerment – which might explain its recent revival. In a #Metoo age, doesn’t the idea of a suit of armour feel particularly pertinent?
Of course, you can be strong and sexy, and part of chain mail’s appeal is the way it fluidly skims the body. ‘Chain mail is such a fascinating material: when you have it in your hands you can’t help but play with it,’ observes Dossena. ‘ When you see it on a body it’s even more mesmerising.’ A chain-mail dress is the anti-lbd: wearing one says to the world, ‘Look at me!’ or ‘My body is gravity-defying’ – probably both. It signifies extreme confidence, all-night-long hedonism and heightened glamour, which would explain why everyone from Studio
A CHAIN- MAIL DRESS SCREAMS CONFIDENCE, GLAMOUR AND ALL- NIGHT- LONG HEDONISM
54-era Farah Fawcett to Versace muses via ’90s Kate Moss right up to Kim Kardashian have fallen for its allure. Paris Hilton and Kendall Jenner both opted for near-identical halter-neck silver slivers to ring in their 21st birthdays – and predictably saw the column inches roll in. Get your fix from Poster Girl’s look-at-me pieces. Wallflowers need not apply.
But can you still wear it if you’re not a 21-year-old party hopper? Absolutely. Just look at the very grown-up Michelle Obama last year, resplendent in a rose gold Atelier Versace chain-mail gown for her final state dinner as First Lady. Back in the real word, Dossena says the key to making it work is a high-low mix. ‘I’d recommend pairing it with some generic clothes, like a pair of jeans or a man’s shirt, to cool down the shininess and give it an effortless feeling.’ There’s something particularly modern about the idea of throwing on a chain-mail dress over a white tee, or wearing a metallic mini with an oversized jumper.
If that’s still a little too much for you, then accessories are your chain mail gateway. Lyst notes that searches for chain-mail bags have spiked in the last month (up 37% month on month), just in time for a packed party season. It’s not hard to imagine chain-mail pouches, swingy earrings or even boots shimmying, sashaying and swishing on the dance floor. Just don’t wear them all at once. Or do – if you’re wearing chain mail, chances are you’re not waiting for anyone’s permission.
THROW ON A CHAIN- MAIL DRESS OVER A WHITE TEE