Having left their homelands, the creative directors of Mainline:RUS/Fr.CA/DE found themselves in London, a new arena for the free exploration of their thoughts and creativity. Each arriving from a different continent, the challenges the three individuals faced in creating something new serve as the points of departure for the concept underlying both their debut collection and performance, presented during Paris Fashion Week Men’s SS20.

The collective explored and interrogated the notion of travel as a spiritual experience, and as a physical state of transit affecting body and mind. Asya Ashman created a space for the performers which opened up the possibility for discovering a wide range of emotions appearing during travelling, allowing attendees to experience the concept of globality and the subliminal impact of travel. The performance explored the different means by which intimacy can be perceived and experienced, alongside the way their innate confusion is explored through both garments and actions.

Travel, be it the commute into the city, or from one to another, is a necessary part of our everyday. It allows us to create fictional or exaggerated versions of ourselves across different settings; to experiment with our personalities and beliefs to create different characters that meet at common touchstones of communication. It gives us the space to perform a vision of ourselves; to play out something that resides within both the psyche and the flesh.

On the road, new acquaintances are unavoidable. Meetings are coincidences that transcend space and time. New interactions—the fleeting meetings, the clashes of cultures and languages they present—often give way to confusion. But despite this, strong connections between personalities and experiences are built. To understand one another, we are conditioned to agree on meeting points, mutually agreed translations that fill empty space with imagination and interpretation.

Our world is a mortal combat fighting between tension and relaxation. Tensed gaze - inner relaxation. Work hard to rest well. Be soft and comfortable. Be wild and aggressive. Touch other people. Keep personal space. Be sensitive and strong. Offline – Online. Physical contact is expensive, it’s a privilege. You have to work hard and contain your emotions. Hard body. Soft voice.