Styled by Dazed’s fashion director Robbie Spencer and photographed by Richard Burbridge, this editorial is a virtual keyboard mash of button-pushing in terms of themes, styling and all-out Weimar weirdness. Fashionisto (view the whole ball of wax there) summed it up simply as “disturbing,” but I’m not sure that it is, given that Spencer’s savvy styling is a direct reference to German artist Otto Dix, who is a longtime fave of the ladies of Yarneteria.

The lead editorial photo features JW Anderson’s clever mesh-covered aran, one of a suite of smart sweaters in the Irish designer’s AW10 collection, which delivers punk militaria and unexpected textures from a distinctly Celtic perspective. View the haunting collection presentation at the link above.

The stylistic decision to use Úna Burke’s lushly fetishistic leather body cast is another surprise. Burke’s own explanation of her collection gets to the heart of the matter:

This is a conceptual collection of wearable art pieces, depicting a series of eight human gestures associated with the cause, the physical and psychological effect and the healing stages of human trauma. Sculptural forms are created around the shape of the contorted female body. A number of pieces are reminiscent of prosthetics and medical braces. This signifies the potential for healing within the boundaries of something which inhibits the body.

The call and response of the Dazed editorial with Otto Dix’s Der Krieg (1924) and later portraits of grotesquely disfigured veterans in Weimar slums and society is palpable. Dix’s etchings, aquatints and paintings offer an unflinching view at the abject horror of WWI and the underbelly of Berlin nightlife before the Third Reich. Paar im Café (Café Couple, 1921) is one of my favorites that shows the juxtoposition of WWI’s primitive medical legacy with the artistic fervor and social pageantry of the Weimar Republic. This watercolor as well as all of Der Krieg and many portraits are on exhibit at the Neue Galerie through August 30, and we recommend that you visit, providing geographical feasibility.

And of course, we can’t close this without a musical reference. Here’s Ultravox’s “Vienna,” which features all of the above imagery, plus Midge Ure: