The Easel

The Eternal Seductive Beauty of Feathers

Great writing. If high fashion is art surely this owes much to exquisite realization. Enter the plumassier. “In the finished collection, almost every outfit bore a striking embellishment: a coat of arms, an embroidered badge, a feathered breastplate, tufted sleeves. These were refined, modern designs, yet they had a rude vitality—as if they might peel from the cloth at any moment and take flight.”