It seems that Yves Klein Blue will never go out of style. The Céline Spring/Summer 2017 collection, presented this past Sunday at the Tennis Club de Paris, featured a recurring pop of the Nouveau Réalisme artist’s trademark color, International Klein Blue, or IKB.
The presentation was also steeped in contemporary art, with a glass set designed by Dan Graham in lieu of a runway, and the invitation inscribed with words by the conceptual artist: “I want to show that our bodies are bound to the world, whether we like it or not.”
Two dresses refer to Klein’s performative Anthropometry paintings from 1960, where he painted the bodies of naked models in his signature color, and they imprinted patterns on paper. Céline designer Pheobe Philo put the Athropometric prints back on the body, with blue patterns complementing the female form on white frocks. A third dress is dip-dyed in the color.
Klein is better known, however, for his monochromes, a fact not forgotten by the French ready-to-wear collection. A pair of solid IKB trousers walked down the runway as well. According to the Céline Instagram account, the brand’s popular leather handbags and accessories will also be available to match. But for true fanatics of the saturated ultramarine, a pair of sunglasses can even tint the whole world International Klein Blue.
A dress dipped in IKB. Photo courtesy PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images.
This is not the first time the eye-popping blue has walked the runway, but it might be the first such occasion that Klein’s work has been so clearly alluded to. See the entire Céline S/S 2017 collection on Vogue‘s website.