BLAKE CHAN

THE MAYDAY RITUAL

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Blake Chan’s collection was inspired by The Wicker Man, a 1973 British folk horror film, and blends the elements of May Day ritual with the Mother Suspiriourum in the British essayist De Quincey’s literary work.

The silhouette of the work features a range of pagan figures and abstract sacrifice ceremonies in medieval times. The figure of the wicker man, as seen in Caesar’s description of the Gallic War, is integrated into details of the design and textile. Also, it tends to balance a sculptural element into the remake of pagan masks as portrayed in ancient documents. The legacy of Victorian costume and pagan poetry, with their tweaks to textiles and the depth and brilliance of silhouette, has helped deconstruct the conventional way of men’s tailoring. This way, the work manages to renovate folk horror for a new form of romanticism and create a gut-punch contrast of aesthetics and mysterious darkness.