Brian De Carvalho’s collection was heavily inspired by his fascination with 18th-century fashion. Carvalho has always had the taste for a more macabre style and influence, and he used this collection to explore different torture methods that were used in this eccentric, eclectic era. The classical 18th-century silhouette is always the shape that Carvalho comes back to, but he always manages to add a twist from dark historical moments such as the Ripper Murders and the plague etc.

 

Carvalho focusses on womenswear while adding some masculine and sometimes aggressive elements. Within this collection he played with the elements of torture, looking into cage hanging, tarring and feathering as well as being burnt at the steak. Each garment is carefully curated to be soft and delicate yet abrasive and striking, every piece having to overcome some sort of trauma.

He started with his desired silhouettes, looking into corsets, and how restrictive they can be, and all the lengths that women had to go through to look beautiful. Carvalho observes that there are similarities between the oppression of women in the 1800s and what queer people go through nowadays.

 

The collection plays with the element of classic delicate femininity and harsh cruel reality, the dresses tell a story of who lived within them, and remind us that no matter how appealing something might seem, there is always something lying beneath the surface.