David Lynch—the legendary filmmaker who reveled in telling dark, surreal stories—passed away at 78. In a career that spanned more than four decades, the director—who was also a musician, a visual artist, and an actor—established such a signature aesthetic that Lynchian became a shorthand adjective for things that were odd, disquieting, and, above all, dreamlike. It’s not at all surprising that over the years many fashion designers sought inspiration from his movies, like Blue Velvet, which starred Isabella Rossellini as a glamorous lounge singer, and Wild at Heart, with Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage playing a pair of young lovers on the run. But perhaps most enduring is Twin Peaks, a TV drama that was like a soap opera on acid and introduced the world to Agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle MacLachlan, as he tried to find out who killed Laura Palmer.
The Lynchian world runs so vast that the inspiration has manifested itself on the runway in myriad ways. Sometimes all a designer needs to do is cue up a specific song, like Rei Kawakubo did at the Comme des Garçons spring 2016 Blue Witch show when she played music from Blue Velvet or at the Creatures of the Wind spring 2017 show where designers Shane Gabier and Chris Peters invited the musician Julee Cruise to perform the theme song to Twin Peaks. “You can’t just do that to somebody! I cried through the entire show!” Caroline Polachek reportedly exclaimed afterward.
Other designers, like Raf Simons and Undercover’s Jun Takahashi, have instead taken on his iconic imagery and adorned their clothes with image stills. At the fall 2017 MSGM show, Massimo Giorgetti indulged in the minutiae of the Twin Peaks world, with pine trees, owls, and tulle skirts as a nod to Laura Palmer, as well as blue roses, which was the code word for a special FBI case investigated by agents Dale Cooper and Chester Diamond.
-
An Undercover fall 2024 menswear tailored suit collaged with stills from Twin Peaks Courtesy of Undercover
-
Agent Dale Cooper on an Undercover fall 2024 menswear bomber jacket Courtesy of Undercover
-
An image of Laura Palmer on an Undercover fall 2024 menswear jacket Courtesy of Undercover
-
The Comme des Garçons spring 2016 ready-to-wear show was set to music from Blue Velvet. Photo: Yannis Vlamos / Indigitalimages.com
-
For the Khaite spring 2023 ready-to-wear show, Catherine Holstein was inspired by Wild at Heart. Photo: Courtesy of Khaite
-
A Khaite spring 2023 python-print jacket was inspired by Nicolas Cage’s signature jacket in Wild at Heart. Photo: Courtesy of Khaite
-
Both Laura Dern and Isabella Rossellini wear black bodycon dresses in the 1990 film. Khaite, spring 2023 ready-to-wear Photo: Courtesy of Khaite
-
For his fall 2019 ready-to-wear show, Raf Simons embellished trench coats and sweaters with stills of Laura Dern in various Lynch movies. Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com
-
Raf Simons, fall 2019 ready-to-wear Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com
-
MSGM, fall 2017 read-to-wear Photo: Alessandro Garofalo / Ind
-
MSGM, fall 2017 ready-to-wear Photo: Alessandro Garofalo / Ind
-
Beginning with their pre-fall 2014 for Kenzo, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim unveiled their trilogy of collections inspired by David Lynch. Courtesy of Kenzo
-
Kenzo, menswear fall 2014 ready-to-wear Marcus Tondo / Indigitalimages.com
-
For their last show in the trilogy, Lim and Leon collaborated with Lynch himself. He was responsible for the soundtrack and the large sculpture of a head in front of the camera pit with its “mouth open in an agonized howl,” according to Vogue Runway’s review. Kenzo, fall 2014 ready-to-wear Yannis Vlamos / Indigitalimages.com
-
On Vogue Runway, Sarah Mower described Julien Dossena’s Rabanne fall 2019 ready-to-wear collection as “a David Lynchian fantasy space” where, per Dossena, “everyone you want to see passes by.” Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com
-
Rabanne, fall 2019 ready-to-wear Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com
-
Rabanne, fall 2019 ready-to-wear Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com
-
Julee Cruise performs at Creatures of the Wind’s spring 2017 ready-to-wear show. WWD/Getty Images
This article was originally published on Vogue.com.