For ‘Lost Resort’ 2024, designer Ingrid Verner seeks to decode Australian resort wear through an astute exploration of relaxed and effortless dressing. Here, playful references to the European heritage and luxury connotations of a resort lifestyle are marred by disassembled Australian kitsch.
A contemplative focus on changing weather cycles and the way clothing and the body interact with the Australian climate are also considered. Protective wear is deconstructed and diluted into simple and utilitarian relaxed garments. The fuss and hassle of adornment within the resort context is flattened in prints, while the disconnect and contrast between home and holiday is inspected.
The functionality of resort wear is cultivated with references to vintage swimwear and undergarments. VERNER’s utilisation of easy, lazy dressing is further explored through wrapping and layering—an approach evocative of the way towels are tied at health spas and hotels. The rejection of aspirational dressing and embrace of comfortable bliss comes in the form of breezy and tactile fabrications.
VERNER continues to utilise pattern as a way of dwelling in the space between surface and structure. The romanticisation of holidays is contrasted with an outside gaze, where we become the spectators of the alien and surreal cultural climates of Australia. ‘Lost Resort’ 2024 is a comical and playful magpie- like delve into the archives of what encompasses Australian resort wear, beach culture and the very culture and psychology surrounding it. Tension is harnessed between protective elements, decayed pastiches and the embrace of true luxury within our natural landscape.
