More a social commentary than a straightforward fashion show, Ritienne Zammit’s Je Suis rebels against the complacency of society. Review by Anna Marie Galea.
Although many struggled to see the video projected onto Fort St Angelo’s walls through the light drizzle at the opening of Ritienne Zammit’s show, Je Suis (as part of Malta Fashion Week), the first image that flashed across the wall was enough to alert me to the fact that I was about to see something of deeper significance than the ubiquitous melée of sunset inspired pieces which have graced our catwalks one time too many.
The first scene to be projected, a clip of Isis fighters destroying ancient artefacts in Mosul’s central museum, served as a backdrop for the collection’s first look: Zammit chose to play on the sadness and sheer rage prompted by the video by showing a statuesque model watching acts of criminal destruction with an indifferent, almost bored, look on her face. The clincher: her floor length, elegant gown, which would not have looked out of place at a cocktail party, was entirely covered in dollar signs.
As the collection’s several looks rolled themselves out onto the catwalk, the significance of the symbolism to Zammit’s designs became more and more apparent.
Having followed the discreet rise of Zammit’s career since her first foray into Malta Fashion Week as a new designer three years ago, I can say that one of the defining features which makes up the very fabric of her work is her need to rebel against the complacency of our comfortable society. With Je Suis, Zammit shocks people into thinking about all that they take for granted; she tackles drugs, religion and sex individually, tied together under the umbrella of addiction and obsession, to show the extremes that each individual has the potential to reach if he divorces himself from reason and the reality of ‘The Other’.
Despite the fact that some may construe Zammit’s statements as blatant judgement of others, she has been adamant in defending her position as a social commentator, rather than a thought tyrant. This collection displayed a clear demarcation between each subject she wanted to tackle, separated by quotes relating to it hand written on backpacks and a variety of specific prints to illustrate her point. However, what made this collection so unique and piqued my interest were the small, blink-and-you’ll-miss-them details.
She tackles drugs, religion and sex individually, to showthe extremes that each individual has the potential to reach if he divorces himself from reason
Apart from the unmistakable slave necklaces and bangles which Zammit often employs in her collections, the designer also finished off the male models’ look with a black piece of tape over their mouths. While the connotation of the high, thick metal chokers was clear, when coupled with the currency symbols, vertigo-inducing geometry, and colourfully sexual prints, it was very interesting to see that she chose to put the tape on the male models mouths instead of the females’. This unexpected subversion gave the collection an even greater thought-provoking dimension.
Although Zammit took many of her prints from well-known classic paintings, she also chose to integrate local elements into her work, such as Caravaggio’s Beheading of St John. Showing life’s interconnectivity, she created pieces which were simply a patchwork of different prints or images melded together. An example of this could be seen when she filled the symmetrical, hallucinatory patchwork with renaissance depictions of battle scenes, representing the madness of war brought about by religious fanaticism, but also the fact that history is currently repeating itself.
Of course, the fact that Zammit chose to use the phrase Je suis…, which has become so synonymous with the Charlie Hebdo killings of January 2015, was more than a passing hint at this cyclic repetition. However, Zammit also integrates esoteric symbolism and the phrase ‘Make Love Not War’ in several of her pieces.
With her dollar-bill infused, ‘sex sells’ dresses and her blunt observations, Zammit succeeded once again in pushing preconceived boundaries.
Her collection offers a glimpse into the state of current affairs and our placidity as a self-centred society, seeking to alienate itself through obsession. As one of the backpacks eloquently read: “Whether you sniff it, smoke it, eat it, or shove it up your ass, the result is the same: addiction.”