If you know the name Paula Canovas del Vas, you likely know it for the designer’s devil-toed shoes and accessories. A graduate of Central Saint Martins, Canovas del Vas started her label in 2018 and immediately garnered buzz around the pronged pieces, developing the pointy motif as her unofficial signature. For spring 2022, she evolves the horned look, using it as a silhouette for trousers, skirts, and jackets to give the body a bulbous, surreal shape.
Her existing fans will like the idea, no doubt, but Canovas del Vas proves with this fleshed-out collection and film that she has extensive views on fashion and dress well beyond horned maxis. Over Zoom, she expounded on her research, which took her from Peter Greenway films to Vanessa Beecroft performances. Canovas del Vas was also once a research assistant at the school of Kanye West; you can see the connection in her ever-wandering, ever-wondering eye. But it’s that leering glance she wants to avoid, or destroy, for spring.
“We live in an ocular-centric era and the eye has taken over all the senses,” she says. Her spring collection, however visually appealing, is intended to entice some of the other senses. A 1996 architecture tome by Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, was a jumping off point. In a video by Joyce Ng, models engage in Beecroft-ian performances of eating and touching foods that resemble the collection.
It’s hard to tell over Zoom exactly how one would feel inside a Canovas del Vas piece—that’s the plight of phygital fashion week. But I have to assume, even from 3,000 miles away, that jumping around in “spaghetti”-inspired fringe, walking through the city in watercolor denim, or partying in neon printed leggings would be pretty great, especially after a year-and-change of less-than-exuberant style. Her use of deadstock materials—she estimates 95% of the collection is deadstock—and her new crochet shoes handmade by her mother would only add to the good vibes emanating from her latest collection.
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