Carol Christian Poell

[JetLag]

Oh, I didn't know. They were very nice to me when I went there last summer. Anyway...
Btw, First delivery of the new collection at l'E. expected this week. We still ignore the size of the box though...

[seenmy]

library in london have had some pieces I believe fior a few weeks selvedge scarf,a shirt and a blazer I think,havent yet had a chance to get over and see it

[MikeN]

It's a separate store, two storefronts down from the current one.

[neonrider]

ccp at library already sold out (as of yesterday).

"store" would be defeating the point, no?

[sargon97]

I know there has been some discussion on re-dyeing CCP leather. Evidently its not something CCP wants to do because of potential damage to the leather and other details. I expect the only way they would do it is if there was some staining or other marking on the leather that can't be removed and would be worth the potential risk.

[MetroBulotDodo]

been looking for a pair of folded rubberbands in 6-7 for ages, nowhere to be found.

I'll be keeping an eye out for my shoe-bro!

MBD

[trentk]

"Poell’s approach to fashion is the mark of an industrial designer rather than that of a fashion creator; his attention is mainly devoted to fabrics, as if they were the containers for forms and ideas, and the utterance of his inner self.... What the creator actually brings about is a decontextualization of old false conventions.. . Poell’s clothing and accessories have a precise aesthtic function and often point to daily changes that we pretend not to see although they affect our lives. " (from CCP's website)

What sort of daily changes do poell's clothes point to? Does this have anything to do with the joints and restrictive jackets? And, what conventions is he decontextualizing?

[crouka]

it's obvious, but this is not what must be read.
his work stands on its own without conceptual explanation.
also it ended up long, written in engrish.
but if you are after extra discovery, I hope this could be of a little help as material to increase any pleasure of that kind in his work.




ancient china's yin yang, goethe's colors theory, hesse's demian, these may be a few of his favorite things.
he has been obsessed with certain things in that paradoxical state: harmonious discord, oneness that consists of disparate or even opposite elements, for example, like hermaphroditus or ardhanarisvara, but probably he likes it more scientific, so, like a magnet where there are a north pole and a south pole, neither of which can exist alone. one never merges into the other, but the opposites together constitute one piece of magnet ( silver compass ring and necklace ).
this is implied by the composition of the presentation at the ruins that they say were once a cannery.
the collection, which is polarized into two groups by the contrasting approaches to pattern-making, was displayed separately in the adjoining spaces of the site, one group centering around the new concept "dead-end" in the building and the other group of "self-edge" in the yard ( silver berlin key necklace whose tips at both ends have the teeth that would be engaged with each other if they got to meet. they are complementary opposites in shape. it is also designed to act as a balance ). the shadowy inside and the outside under the sky, obscurity and clarity. the contrast between the two spaces is mirrored by the diametric opposition of the labyrinthine inward nature of "dead-end" to the arborescent outward nature of "self-edge". **
and also there are the correspondences of the little features of the deserted premises with the details of his products. the cracks in a window, the stains sunk into the texture of a wall, the color of moss, the flash on a splinter of glass in the shadows, etc. all these elements, abstracted or distorted or transformed, are reflected in his pieces. his pieces reflect them.


** the "self-edge" idea is what had carried over from the previous collection titled "selfsame", and this is further exploration of its possibilities.
the symbolic color of that collection was red somewhere between scarlet and orange. it could have represented heat/temperature, energy, blood, and also selvedge. the color of the line on the selvedge edge.
and the color of this new collection is kind of dark cyan in the hue where you can see blue in green. it's the complementary color of that red ( pic 1 ).
the new idea "dead end" placed opposite the "self-edge" has its blueprint in a cracked pane of glass ( pic 2 ).
if a crack had run from one edge to the other across the pane, you could see two or more broken pieces of glass there. but the crack ran and actually stopped on its way, which makes it still a single albeit cracked pane of glass. also it looks as if the crack had came to a dead end at that point, through leonardian eyes.
and imagine a back center seam of a jacket for example that runs, say, north and south across the back. it divides the back into two pattern pieces. but if one seam from the north and the other from the south only run halfway and don't meet at the point they should ( pic 3 ), they are almost a back center seam which keeps the back undivided. their not merging manages the continuity of the back pattern piece.
oneness made possible by the two that never merge, like the way a magnet is. this is the basic concept of "dead end".
and those dead end seams are closed / coldly embellished with such techniques as "pinch-seam", "chain-seam", "visible melt lock", and zipper metal teeth.
"dead end" is elaborated, intricate, introversive, and highly artificial.
"self-edge" is purified, ordered, extroversive, and in a certain way natural.
then, there is a destination the two concepts have in common. it's called "one-piece" where the items are constructed out of a piece of fabric/leather. and ultimately the opposites are to aim toward that same goal, which means their approach to each other. however it's not by abandoning the extremes of them and being neutralized but by staying themselves and making the most of what they are.



1



2



3









main story of the collection above
other schemes for his sartorial alchemy include:

industrial - natural
potential - actual
inside - outside
dark - light
2D - 3D
etc.

his work is based on the play between those two points like alternating current where his insanity works as voltage and his tailoring spirit as resistance.




some details about the potential - actual and AC here if anyone is interested

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f60/carol-christian-poell-2-a-100777-4.html#post8393089

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f60/carol-christian-poell-2-a-100777-4.html#post8404167

[Chant]

Great post, as always crouka. Thanks.
Question remains nevertheless if his work is more on the paradoxical side or a contemporary echo of the medieval coincidentia oppositorum, which is non paradoxical.
I thought at first that the double non meeting asymmetrical seams, wich is one of the main features of the 2010 collection, looked like that it was the first time that a formal/conceptual idea would not have any functionnal/tailoring meaning. But your post could prove me wrong, since it allows the garment to have this continuity (selvedge)/discontinuity (seam) tension - where the continuity is nevertheless stronger.

EDIT : I have to go reading what you write on tFS.

[Goldsmith]

CCP 2011

Has anyone had the pleasure to view the new 2011 collection in person. I would like to know if the foldover boot with the thread sole added makes the boot heavy to wear or if the sole being rubber keeps it light. Also opinions and more discussion is welcome what about that crazy wrinle paper bag looking boot?

[neonrider]

Truly a fantastic post, Crouka. Many thanks. Cuts to the heart of this entire thread.

[teenagelightning]

..

[philip nod]

I'd like to see poell go beyond binary codes and polarities
these structuralist themes are played out

[diorowen]

just read about ccp, and, wow, thanks a lot Crouka for your really well explained post :). another proof of his awesome perception.

[Chant]

I'd like to see poell go beyond binary codes and polarities
these structuralist themes are played out