In the London of the 1790's a popular diversion for the monied classes was to go and look at the unfortunate inmates of the Bedlam asylum. Occupants of Bedlam were incarcerated yet remained on show for the titillation of the visiting public. Such were the famously unruly scenes they created, that Bedlam has now become a watchword for chaos and disorder.
"Bedlam" is a series of experiments in form and construction which have become the hallmark of the label.
A local of Dunedin, designer Margarita Robertson and her team have long been aware that fresh new ideas are often born from the chaos of creativity. She showed a collection that was ridiculously fresh and current and made the parade of black leggings with platform shoes showing on the runways of Europe and New York look tired and conventional. Wonderfully eclectic and androgynous the clothes are densely layered and paired with candy colored hightop sneakers.Blazers are boiled, while shirts and waistcoats are doubled and extended. Dresses are wrapped securely around the body; to keep the wearer from causing a commotion perhaps? Who knows? Vintage-look pajama prints and Fair Isle knitwear pieces testify to the importance of traditional fabrics for NOM*d. It's not surprising to see uniforms of different types referenced throughout; this is a collection concerned with institutionalisation in its many forms after all. Take it all too seriously at your own peril though; NOM*d aren't, as their motto read "Cum Grano Salis" might suggest.
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