METALLIC TENSION BETWEEN NATURAL AND ARTIFICAL AT THE SS25 HELIOT EMIL SHOW
words by SONNY NGO
Guests invited to the Heliot Emil Spring/Summer’25 runway received their invitation on something quite unusual: a stone with a metal plate announcing the title of the show, “Cultural Construct Artificial Landscape.” Set to answer or at least challenge the question what is natural versus what is artificial, creative director Julius Juul, designed a thought-provoking show inspired by the “Riverbed” installation-art by Olafur Eliasson which turned the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art into a volcanic landscape. The result is a critical dialogue, and a collection which beautifully reflects that.
Eliasson’s influence could clearly be felt throughout the show’s collection, with textures and textiles drawing on ideas of rivers and stones. The room itself had a grey floor as well, calling back the stone motif. Overall, the colours had a very muted palette, with Juul stated to have been directly inspired by the Icelandic and volcanic landscapes. The tones of the looks themselves were also very smothered, with most of them being either black, white, grey, or a combination of the three.
Centre to the hall, however, was a massive electrochromic glass installation created by Encor Studios. Made out of a multitude of material slides, transparency of the artwork could be changed using electric current. Placed in the midst of the stone-grey space, the installation boldly contrasted the nature inspired room and stimulated repeated tensions between artificial and natural.
The theme of molten heat and volcanic scenery continued to seep through with the clothing as well, with predominantly thick protective puffy jackets and caps taking over. Besides, the looks had a somewhat sci-fic-lite aesthetic; something you could have easily seen in Dune or the likes. Perhaps due to the utilitarian garments or the ethereal minimal-cover ones. Either way, the looks exalted a certain industrial elegance that only Heliot Emil could have executed this way.
But the true showstoppers were the metallic looking accessories. Paired against the delicate yet extremely technical garments, they further carried the artificial versus natural contrasts and finished the looks with a profound touch.
What is nature and what is artificial? I don’t know. And I don’t think there is a definitive answer to that question either. In a consistent conversation and flux, technology continues to blend with nature. That dialogue is intricately displayed in Heliot Emil’s Spring/Summer’25 runway and what a delight it is to follow. Oh, and that stone invitation? Purchased online — eternally stuck between a state of natural and artificial.
