De-installing Washed Up at Selfridges the other night, I was tasked with the job of moving Philip Treacy’s silver Lobster hat he created for Lady Gaga from a display cabinet in the exhibition to one of the windows facing the street.

Fantastical, surreal objects as fashion are evocative and tantalising, drawing out reactions and ideas that may not appear again, but which surprise, delight, or dismay. They sit alongside other objects, each juxtaposing the other, challenging perceived preconceptions. Evocative objects are needed so that we can reiterate the famous line – the shock of the new. Be that a completely new idea, or juxtaposition of ideas.

Isn’t that what fashion is about: to challenge, to push forward, to renew relentlessly.

That is, if you like fashion.

BDW

Unpicking something is always an interesting experience. If you may remember, I had to get the help of the obsessive knitter (#4 – A Good Ribbing) to unpick some mittens I was rushing to finish on time awhile back (moral to this story: knitting is not going to grow miraculously longer just because you have somewhere else to be).

Which got me thinking about unravelling, as I was de-installing Washed Up, the exhibition at Selfridges in the heart of London, last weekend. Another overnight adventure (we finished at 6.30am), it always amazes me (even though it shouldn’t as I have done it enough times) how quickly something can be unpicked, pulled apart, re-made, renewed, re-thought through.

Perhaps it was the tiredness that confused my internal body clock and hazy mind. Who knows, but the thought remained: once unpicked, it will never be the same again, but that only invites new opportunities and possibilities for the future.

BDW