SEAL OF APPROVAL
Several looks from Ann Demeulemeester’s Spring 2009 collection looked as though they could be hidden amongst the plates found in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Catalogue of Textiles from Burying-Grounds in Egypt: Volume 1. Graeco-Roman Period, published by their Department of Textiles in 1920. Though medallions, roundels and star shaped emblems have been a constant motif throughout the history of textiles, Demeulemeester managed to modernize the antiquated insignias with block printing, jet black beading and a macabre Neo-Egyptian point of view.
PLATE XXVIII • November 1920 • Catalogue of Textiles from Burying-Grounds in Egypt : Volume 1. Graeco-Roman Period by A.F. Kendrick • Published by the Victoria and Albert Museum | Department of Textiles , London
Taken from a very apropos interview in 10 Magazine from 2011, the mistress of modernism thanks her ancestors and acknowledges the circular cycles of creativity:
“DO YOU HAVE A MENTOR? A MUSE? WHO / WHAT ARE THEY?
“Great individuals – or ancestors – who send me energy through their work. If I see or hear or feel great work of somebody it gives me the energy to try to create something good to – in my field… it makes me wanting to give to… it’s a circle of energy that creates a circle of communication in which related souls find each other… the best reward for my work.” • From The Volt “Ann Demeulemeester: Portrait Of The Designer”
Beaded Embroidery Detail of a Blouse • Spring / Summer 2009 Collection • Ann Demeulemeester
Beaded Drape Blouse • Spring / Summer 2009 Collection • Ann Demeulemeester
PLATE IV • November 1920 • Catalogue of Textiles from Burying-Grounds in Egypt : Volume 1. Graeco-Roman Period by A.F. Kendrick • Published by the Victoria and Albert Museum | Department of Textiles , London
PLATE XI • November 1920 • Catalogue of Textiles from Burying-Grounds in Egypt : Volume 1. Graeco-Roman Period by A.F. Kendrick • Published by the Victoria and Albert Museum | Department of Textiles , London
Block Print Detail of a Blouse • Spring / Summer 2009 Collection • Ann Demeulemeester
Block Printed Drape Blouse • Spring / Summer 2009 Collection • Ann Demeulemeester
PLATE III • November 1920 • Catalogue of Textiles from Burying-Grounds in Egypt : Volume 1. Graeco-Roman Period by A.F. Kendrick • Published by the Victoria and Albert Museum | Department of Textiles , London
PLATE XXII • November 1920 • Catalogue of Textiles from Burying-Grounds in Egypt : Volume 1. Graeco-Roman Period by A.F. Kendrick • Published by the Victoria and Albert Museum | Department of Textiles , London
PLATE XXVII • November 1920 • Catalogue of Textiles from Burying-Grounds in Egypt : Volume 1. Graeco-Roman Period by A.F. Kendrick • Published by the Victoria and Albert Museum | Department of Textiles , London
Title Page • November 1920 • Catalogue of Textiles from Burying-Grounds in Egypt : Volume 1. Graeco-Roman Period by A.F. Kendrick • Published by the Victoria and Albert Museum | Department of Textiles , London
Portrait of Ann Demeulemeester • Willy Vanderperre
