Libro Luxurio
“Like my clan back home, this collection is hard to define, part memoir, part fiction, part kid’s book, and a chance to do some drawings,” says New York based designer Cynthia Rowley. It sounds as though she is describing her newest collection to go down the runway. Lively, mischievous, unique, and whimsical. But she’s referring to the contents of her book, Slim: A Fantasy Memoir.
At a little over a hundred pages it is more than a narrative journey from childhood to adult life. From creative little girl to successful fashion designer. Rowley incorporates dreamy, vivid illustrations that are just as much a part of each chapter as the accompanying text. This visual motif is precisely for which the Italian publishing house Rizzoli is known.
It is evident from the beginning of the book that Rowley was destined for a career in fashion. In junior high she learned that her home-made coats, jewelry, and dresses awarded her a certain social notoriety. These weren’t just any do-it-yourself projects. She made earrings from the furniture in her dollhouse, a skirt from the fabric of an umbrella, and a hat of mismatching mittens. Ingenuity and creative flare seems to run in her family. In 1968 when astronaut Neil Armstrong came to her family’s hometown in Illinois Rowley’s mother sewed her own gown for the formal occasion (only to realize upon arrival that she chose the same brocade which furbished the dining chairs). Instead of buying his children a go-cart Rowley’s father enlisted her and her brother to help him make one. Simply stick two wood planks and an old lawn mower engine together with Elmer’s glue, take it for a spin, then try to explain the racket to the police later.
The lines between fiction and reality blur at times. Was it really her balloon-sleeved dress that carried her to a parking lot a few towns from her own? Or was it only her inflated imagination that did the carrying away? Rowley clearly never lost her youthful spirit. It translates wonderfully into her present career. Her past few collections have been accompanied by short films which acted as previews before the full runway premier. One shows a group of girls playing musical chairs. Another is of a game of hide and seek in Central Park. (Visit www.cynthiarowley.com to watch.)
She dedicates an entire chapter to her passion for making her runway shows real productions. Real shows. Shows which are all about the fantasy. They whisk you away to a fairy tale land, or pull you down the rabbit hole to a strange yet fascinating world. In September, at New York Fashion Week, her Spring 2010 RTW collection opened with a magical twist. A white cloth floated down from the ceiling, guided by invisible wires which pulled it perfectly flat over the catwalk, and stunning the audience in the process. Music from the original score of Dario Argento’s 1977 horror film Suspiria contributed to the sweet but eerie illusion.
“It is definitely an evolution from what we’ve done in the past. Its less girly, less frilly. And its definitely more body conscience and grown up. A little bit athletic, a little bit sporty, but very clean and graphic. The whole idea of season-less dressing was very important,” she says of the collection backstage. The crowd of models, colleagues, and reporters bustling about, eager to speak with her are testament to her talent in design and style. But she has a real playfulness that is rare in fashion, and of which one can only truly understand from familiarity with her character or by reading her memoir. The book will delight readers of any age, and inspire women both young and old that following your dreams should be the most natural thing in the world.
