fall|winter 20 preview

In January, I presented my newest FW20 collection during a show full of dance and entertainment in Rotterdam. All my work as a feminist designer is inspired by muses, powerful female icons from past and present. And for FW20, my muse will be crime writer Agatha Christie. A few months from now, you will get to discover the collections, and see how they tell stories like Agatha’s thrilling books do..

This fall, we will unravel the magical mystery of Agatha Christie. Forget the image of the elderly, grey-haired lady, married to her typewriter. “Very few of us are what we seem,” Agatha warned. The Queen of Crime was a feisty, freedom-loving feminist who used her imagination to become the most popular author of all time – outselling even the bible and William Shakespeare! – while living the most adventurous life. “I had the firm conviction that, if I went about looking for adventure, adventure would meet me halfway,” she explained. A great lover of plot twists in her novels, Agatha also orchestrated several in her own life, from her mysterious 11- day disappearance to her spontaneous solo trip to Baghdad on the Orient Express. The message: it’s never too late to (re)write your own story.

For Agatha, writing was a feminist act. How she delighted in turning one-dimensional female stereotypes such as the femme fatale or the sexy secretary into multi-layered manifestations of feminine empowerment. Long before Madonna would launch a new feminist wave by playing with iconic feminine identities, Agatha planted the seed of self-reinvention in several generations of women.

From ‘Death on the Nile’ to ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, Agatha’s fictional worlds will always have the power to unlock the doors to our imagination. With her high-glam style and exotic locations, she dares us to dream; with her bad-ass female characters she dares us to grow. Murder, she wrote, but in the end, Agatha’s story was all about embracing life and daring to be.

My newest Couture Collection is an ode to Agatha’s sharp-dressed sleuths. Channel your inner Queen of Crime in a spectacular combination of form-fitting finesse and timeless tartan. The clues are in the trench coatinspired details; the leather-look buttons, wide ‘lapels’ and snazzy belt. Wear my ‘The Detective’ and use your powers of deductions to discover your deepest desires.

Dare to use your imagination!

— Marlies Dekkers

Photo by Puck Kors