Halpern SS 2023 – London Fashion Week
Halpern SS 2023 collection premiered at the London Fashion Week. It was also a very interesting collaboration between an iconic brand. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Barbie Dreamhouse. A cultural institution in the fantasy world that surrounds Mattel’s timeless icon, the Dreamhouse represents the birthplace of any child’s imagination: the home. Playing in his own house as a child, Michael Halpern used his Barbie Dreamhouse for the social scenes that already filled his mind. Here, dressed to the nines, his Barbie dolls played hostesses to fabulous house parties inspired by those thrown by his own mother in Upstate New York.
As part of Spring-Summer 2023, Halpern collaborates with Mattel on eight looks dedicated to
Barbie and the imagination she – and her Dreamhouse – inspired in him from an early age. In
Mattel’s archives, the designer was given access to Barbie’s wardrobes through the ages. Three
motifs particularly evoked his childhood memories: the chevron pattern, polka dots and sunset
palette intrinsically linked to Barbie’s look. Interpreted in floor-length silhouettes realized in the glamorous sequins, tulles and ruffles instinctive to the Halpern brand, the elements come to life in looks founded in the fantasy of entertaining at home.
Sparked by the Barbie Dreamhouse, the idea of the house party informs the collection at large. In the 1970s and early ‘80s, Halpern’s mother Cheryl – banker by day, disco girl by night – embodied
the glamour of the era’s New York City lifestyle. When the family relocated to Upstate New York
in the late ‘80s – where Halpern grew up – so did his mother’s sumptuous ‘70s wardrobe. With
no intention of letting her new country life cramp her style, Mrs Halpern would host dazzling
house parties dressed in the plunging velvet leopard-print gowns of her louche disco days.
Halpern’s memories of those events set the tone for a collection loosely rooted in the concept of
the housecoat. Multi-colour looks play with pleating in shapes gathered, twisted and ruffled for
ostentation, every edge adorned in horse hair. A ‘dripping leopard’ section interprets the animal
motif with a swirling rainbow-hued aquarelle effect in screen-printed tulle subsequently handpainted and flocked in glitter.
In a study of velvet – a first for Halpern – the designer pays homage to the looks of his mother’s
house parties in draped and fluted garments created in classic leopard-print velvet. A series of
ink black velvet dresses are hand-embroidered with sunburst motifs in black and gold. As a nod
to the glow-in-the-dark star and moon stickers that lit up the ceiling of Halpern’s childhood
bedroom, stargazer dresses are created in midnight blue velvet gold-flocked with celestial
constellations in homage to the domestic surroundings that first sparked his own dreams.
In closing, a personal note from Michael Halpern about the opening look:
“This year, I will be receiving British citizenship. I came here for my education at Central Saint
Martins in 2017. Ever since, I have called this country home. I have been welcomed here with
open arms in ways I could never have anticipated. For my Spring-Summer 2023 show, I would
like to take the opportunity to thank the United Kingdom and honour the Queen. The blue look
that opens the show in silence is a tribute to Her Late Majesty, engulfed in the hues and silhouette
that, for me, evoke a reign that promoted creativity, openness and a widespread support for
creative freedom. This singular look is a way for me to show my gratitude to the Queen for
encouraging designers like myself to express in the only way we know how: through the power
of fashion and optimism. It has always been my ethos that, in times of darkness, I look to the
fantasy of fashion for its optimism and strength. This particular instance is exactly that.”
Runway – © Thomas De Cruz Media: Iker Aldama