Calvin Klein
Fresh. Minimal. Simple. Francisco Costa effortlessly personified these words this season. Beautifully tailored jackets and trousers and long-sleeved maxi dresses were just a few of the things that conjured up an air of sophistication and maturity. Keeping the color palette minimal, there was a lot of focus on the lines and silhouettes. This was a clean collection that was beautifully executed, and it was also a reminder of two things: 1) Francisco Costa can do no wrong, and 2) a little goes a long way.
Alexander Wang
Alexander Wang’s collections progressively become more esoteric with each season and cannot be fully digested right away. I find that you have to come back to it after seeing it for the first time and try to unpack it as much as you can, almost dissect it in a way. After doing so, then perhaps you can justly review it and form an opinion.
There was a fusion of nostalgia with intangible ideas wrapped up in Wang’s collection. The nostalgia stemmed from the use of velvet throughout. To me velvet brings me back to childhood and wearing velvet dresses and shoes, and surely many other girls have made similar connections. Velvet is not commonly or easily worked into the every-day wardrobe. It was interesting that Wang made it a focal point of the collection. The inability to grasp certain ideas stemmed from the proportions and silhouettes, and also from certain details here and there. Perhaps it is a matter of going back and studying the collection more closely, but for some reason, I just cannot put my finger on it.
Rodarte
The Mulleavy sisters know their strength and know it well. Every collection they put out seems to be an extension of the last, with their continued display of beautiful layering and interweaving of different prints, fabrics and textures. With so many things going into the collection, it ran the risk of looking like someone’s laundry basket, but these girls artfully marry all of these elements together to beautifully construct these pieces. They are able to take colors and fabrics that have absolutely nothing to do with on another, and have no business being in the same garment, and create a visually stunning, organic symbiosis. What’s also nice is the fact they have softened up quite a bit this season and lessened the grip of the apocalyptic, dark aesthetic they’ve had going on for a while, but not for one second have they abandoned their technique and identity.
Proenza Schouler
The Proenza Schouler girl was not so prim and proper this season. She was a little dark, with a bit of a street mentality. However, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez did not completely sweep the girlishness under the rug, as there were short skirts and babydoll dresses galore. They simply took them and gave them a dark edge with the inclusion of blacks and evergreens. There was something very New York socialite about this collection (which comes at no surprise since the duo’s circle is pretty much made up of them), but more so very NY prep school. McCollough and Hernandez established this motif with their take on the classic varsity jackets and school girl outfits. Their experimentation with proportions might have been the highlight of the collection. The cropped jackets and sweaters were paired interchangeably with both tight, skinny jeans and short skirts, and there were longer coats reaching the hem of the dresses. The prints were playful, and bold and did not in the slightest hinder the collection.
Matthew Ames
Every season, Matthew Ames ups the ante and does something new, all while staying true to the essence of his designs. His use of leather was something that we haven’t seen from him before. He was able to take something as tough as leather and construct pants with a full silhouette, as well as tops with more angular, geometric cuts. Ames has always mastered the art of finding the balance between organic and geometric shapes. He’s also never afraid to use color in a way that most designers could not. Orange and mustard yellow made strong cameos, but what heightened the boldness of these colors was the fact that they appeared in a variety of textures and fabrics. The color palette was quite extensive, ranging from pastels to black, making sure there was something in this collection for everyone. Matthew Ames is always able to challenge himself season after to season and churn out something beautiful each time.
Richard Chai Love
Richard Chai abandoned any and all conventions in fashion and created his own manifesto on how to dress. A classic pea-coat can be worn with casual leggings, a maxi dress can be paired with a dress shirt. There are no holds barred. Through Chai’s collection a message of liberation was imbedded. We don’t have to be confined to banal notions like a day vs. night look. Who cares? There is no wrong or right way to approach fashion, and so the wearer is free to do what she wants. Chai showed looks that could be deconstructed, rearranged, and layered a number of ways. There were pieces that were classic, casual, hard, and soft and they all played off each other nicely. He gave us what we wanted—choices.
Richard Chai
Gentlemen, please take note.
For the men, Chai re-worked classic silhouettes and put a Parisian boy-esque spin on them. It was a quintessential display of effortless, cool. The muted tones, the mixes of blues, the layering all catered to this casual aesthetic that was completely uncontrived. Chai’s strength as a designer is growing exponentially and he has proven himself to be a trusted menswear designer.
