Unlikely Style Icon: Alexander Rodchenko

Rodchenko standing in front of dismantled hanging spatial construction 1922, portrait by Mickhail Kaufman.

Happy Easter to one and all! We celebrated Good Friday with a little culture as EJ took me to see the Rodckenko and Popova exhibition at the Tate Modern. The exhibition explores the work of two of Russia's most avant garde artists and examines their evolution from abstract painting to graphic designs, the show includes cinema and theatre poster designs, books and costumes as well as paintings and sculpture. Although his architectural investigations and free standing sculptures were interesting, out of the whole exhibition, the above photograph left the biggest impact on me. In many of the photographs, Rodchenko appears to be styled as the archetypal bond villain (the only thing missing me a white furry cat in his lap and an gaudy lair setting complete with piranha filled fish tank) but here, he is styled to perfection in his all in one. The latest issue of Fantastic Man reminded us of the practical elegance of an all in one with stylist Elgar Johnson in an attractive boilersuit by Seagull from Leyland DSM (pg 165) as did Menswear in a recent post with colourful options from Dickies Workwear. Rodchenko, however is surely donning the best jumpsuit I've seen all season. I fell in love with the above image as soon as it was pointed out to me by the lovely couple from Seventy Somethings but when I found out later in the exhibition that Rodchenko had designed the jumpsuit himself, my admiration was immeasurable. My favourite design feature are the oversized double pockets, of course I currently have no need for such extravagant pockets but I should take up something which creates the use...Rodchenko's style is practical and purposeful, two hugely admirable traits.