Before getting into the show, a bit of Back-ground might be useful.
As a Gaultier-clad young adult she stuck out in another way.
Four years later she moved back to Sweden in 2009.
A glimpse of “Go as You Please,” at Liljevalchs museum in Stockholm.
In 2018 the ever-resourceful designer came up against a force she couldnt vanquishher creditorsand the business went into bankruptcy.
A glimpse of Go as You just, at Liljevalchs museum in Stockholm.
For Back, Go As You hey, is a way to find closure.
A glimpse of “Go as You Please,” at Liljevalchs museum in Stockholm.
I lost everything, she told me.
It was like hell.
The poster dresses are featuring some of my favorite looks from the catwalk, Back explained.
“The poster dresses are featuring some of my favorite looks from the catwalk,” Back explained. “Nothing in the exhibition is shown as it was styled back then, it is all new looks on the mannequins and in the coffins (hence prospective-retrospective).”
Backs black humor remains intact.
The invitation to the new exhibition takes the form of a Swedish death announcement.
Im so happy for her.
Names of friends of the brand will be projected on this tombstone.
Fashion has never been about fun subjects for me ever, really, says Back.
Thats as retrospective as the show gets.
Names of friends of the brand will be projected on this tombstone.
The Addams-esque coffin room.
Chronology is entirely discarded in favor of a cross-generational dialogue with Walker.
I know it sort of takes attention from the design details, but I dont care, Back said.
The Addams-esque coffin room.
Some of the mannequins wear white masks of Back’s face.
A straightforward retrospectivea straightforward anythingis not Backs style.
She might not be producing fashion anymore, but shes still tilting at windmills.
Some of the mannequins wear white plastic masks of Backs face.
“Go as You Please” details, a double hat.
This has different meanings, she explained.
If Im scared of my own look, I have to kind of make it neutral for myself.
And this is one way of doing that.
“Go as You Please,” plastic fantastic.
Some of the mannequins wear white masks of Backs face.
Another take down is of traditional (skinny, white) beauty ideals.
Fashion is a commentary on the world and fashion that exists in a bubble is to me irrelevant.
“Go as You Please” details, decorated shoes.
There is great poignancy here, too.
So is a painting her mother did of Jesus which has been made into a dress.
Selects fromAnn-Sofie Back AteljeandBackcollections on Vogue Runway.
A glimpse of “Go as You Please,” at Liljevalchs museum in Stockholm.
Her work isnt well documented and will be new to many, but also familiar.
But I think nobody knows that theyre Ann-Sofies.
In this time when niche fashion is tracked like sports, a new collecting area will open up.
One of the distinguishing features of Backs work is its nuanced sense of humor.
The in-jokeness also seems related to the brands true IYKYK status.
Failed glamour is how Back describes her aesthetic.
No heterosexual man is liking what I do, ever, she says wryly.
For me, thats too boring and easy.
I need to play with that vanity.
Is it someone who is fashionable or is it a mistake?
I dont want it to be easy to read my designs.
I want to cause confusion because Im confused and I changed my mind, said Back.
Ambivalence is very important; I dont see things as so black and white.
She laughs at her own embarrassment.
The thought of people scratching their heads makes her laugh.
She embraces her own failures.
Shes brutally honest but she is a very funny person.
When I look at things she has made I can hear her giggling in my head.
Go as You like details, a double hat.
Go as You just, plastic fantastic.
Ann-Sofie cannot do anything the easy way; its impossible for her, says Walker.
The Swedish stylist Naomi Itkes also sees Back as a force.
She was looking at everything like an anthropologist, looking at society and people.
And she brought up topics like feminism, paparazzi, horror in American culture.
She took in everything.
Shes like the Cindy Sherman of fashion….
