Thom Browne’s tribute to Edgar Allan Poe took shape in a show themed to Poe’s famed poem, “The Raven.” Set in a culture center known as The Shed, Browne presented an array of eerie gothic pieces masterfully crafted to tell the tale of the raven’s cries and the narrator’s spiral to madness.
As the looks slowly marched the runway to actress Carrie Coon’s narration of the poem, the theme of the raven became stronger with each ensemble.
“The Raven,” a staple in American literature that contains themes of grief and loss, is communicated through the collection’s gradual consumption of the human form. The opening look and the pieces that followed were certainly camp yet maintained traditional cuts, standard shapes, and sculpted bodices. As the looks progressed, the collection that started with oversized blazers and artfully patterned trench coats moved on to ballooned skirts and asymmetrical cuts with rips and tears, perhaps done to look like claw scratches.
The show ended with a whimsically large gold cape with a printed raven atop it. As Coon’s voice repeatedly shrieked “Nevermore!,” the cape was shed, dramatically revealing the closing look—a gold cardigan paired with a matching gold pant and overskirt combo.
