Mattijs van Bergen

Dipping garments in porcelain slip is a bit of a cliché, except when it is done by someone like fashion designer Mattijs van Bergen. In his hands, his collection pieces take on a new life. The carefully arranged fabric flows; pleats, folds, seams, everything participates in the transformation from one medium to another. Permanence and transience are reconciled by a tangible love for form and material. Before destroying them in the kiln to create a positive copy, Van Bergen pressed several of his original designs in slabs of clay. They leave an ephemeral negative image, strangely spatial, like a transparent blouse or skirt floating in water. En passant, the designer took another ceramic platitude — modelling genitals, hahaha — and turned it into a reflection on a society that emphasizes performance over play in every aspect of life. Rather than virility or power, the penises he made evoke a utopia of carefree experimentation.