With Son Jung Wan you know that there is always going to be lots of combinations of fabrics and a wide color palette. Sometimes Son Jung Wan’s combination of fabrics and colors work, other times it is disjointed. Still, there is lots of imagination. It is almost as if the experimentation never stops and continues onto the runway in a product that is not finished. And sometimes that is good thing, other times it might look messy.
Son Jung Wan’s fall 2019 collection was adventurous, bold, and messy. And for the most part that was the charm of the collection. Inspired by the “romantic mood of retro art and culture,” this “Romance Returns” collection will cause consumers to glance back at silhouettes that were very popular in the early 1970s, a trend that was most evident in the collections of Michael Kors, Cynthia Rowley, Nanette Lepore, and others.
Though there was a boxiness to many of the silhouettes in the collection, the padded shoulders to conjure up images from the early 70s when many fashion designers were referencing the 1940s. The boxy shoulders were best in Son Jung Wan’s jumpsuits which were to die for, and those jumpsuits were the most successful looks in this outing.
As the liner notes of this collection denoted, Son Jung Wan has set her own unique standard in the use of edgy fabrics. And in this collection, Wan’s utilization and combinations of faux fur, checkered prints, flower prints, embroidered fabric, sequins, and velvet, though in line with the brand’s signature aesthetic, really demonstrated a continuing evolution of the brand.
Continuing along that fashion projection, Son Wang Wan mixed faux fur, sequins and ruffles with a combination of bold oranges, blues and greys, creating a unique color palette, symbolizing the romantic mood of retro art and culture. This mélange of color and fabrications worked best when Wan minimized the mixing and matching, revealing how beautiful and reflective her work can be.
Images courtesy of Deborah Hughes, Inc./Rodin Banica
Compared to the brand’s spring 2019 collection, the fall 2019 collection is a step in the right direction. Keep up the good work!!—William S. Gooch
For that fashionista that wants flirty, fun clothes with a bit of edge, Alice + Olivia has been a go-to brand for that customer for over a decade. As one of the most coveted shows during New York Fashion Week: The Shows, Alice + Olivia always draws a huge crowd and on occasion a few select celebrities show up for good measure.
For the past several seasons, Stacy Bendet has presented her collection in a presentation format, a format that works so much better for the brand than a runway show. Editors, stylists, industry professionals and attendees can get an up close and personal view of the collection.
Ethical fashion is obtaining a stronger presence in fashion. There was even a Vegan Fashion Week for the fall 2019 season at the same time as New York Fashion Week: The Shows (NYFWS).
Launched in 2008, NONIE’s creative director Nina Kharey has solidly placed her fashion brand as a part of Canada’s, and more specifically Vancouver’s, hierarchy of fashion-forward fashion brands. And with the brand’s debut Kharey is hoping to get more market traction in the US after much acclaim in Canada.
Like so many brands, Grungy Gentleman is tapping into collaborations. Grungy Gentleman’s creative director Jace Lipstein realizes that with multiple collaborations he is accomplishing a lot of task and expanding is customer base in one blow.
Grungy Gentleman has established itself as a men’s sportswear brand with deep roots with professional sports team. That said; this affiliation with sports teams continues with sports figures mixed into the runway show along with male models. “[Sports figures] Dave East and Styles P embody everything the Grungy brand wanted this show to be about– an ode to New York City– the grit, the grind, the inimitable style and presence of those who came up here, and the power of collaboration across different generations and categories,” said Ali Moon, talent booker for the show.
Almost more than any other menswear designer, Robert Geller finds inspiration and nuance from some of the most unusual sources and references. For his fall 2018 collection, Geller drew from memories of his life in Hamburg, Germany and the joy of hanging out with his friends. He married that youthful reminiscence with Olympic outfits of the 1980s, and Germany army sportswear apparel.This outing was in direct opposition to Geller’s fall 2017, the year of his 10th anniversary. For that collection, Geller shrouded his models in dark symbols of protest and rebellion, as though dystopia had already arrived.
That said; Robert Geller did not stop with conjuring up images of mountain hiking apparel. Geller ingeniously combined layered mountain hiking clothes with the dyeing of different textiles techniques that are incorporated into one garment. Working with his Japanese team, they found a way to properly dye nylon, wool, and cotton with all those textiles combined in one garment.
LANDLORD’s Creative Director Ryohei Kawanishi in his seventh menswear collection went back to school for inspiration for his fall 2019 collection. Initially inspired by the Ivy League—the Darmouth, Princeton, Yale, and Harvard version of higher education—Kawanishi decided to expand his original perspective to include education from kindergarten to graduate school.
Not so, Kawanishi’s in this fall 2019 lecture conjures up images of an anti-intellectual student; a student that is somberly playful and may be a product of the laid-back stoner and slacker culture. And that stoner slacker culture has a definite, if not significant, place among young consumers.
There were not many bright spots during the New York Fashion Week: Men’s (NYFWM) fall 2019 season. Amid rumors that this season may be NYFWM’s last season, it was more than evident that NYFWM is a mere shadow of what it was or what it aspired to be.
Inspired the rural Spanish of the early 20th Century and Serge Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe, Palomo Spain’s creative director Palomo Gomez found an ingenious way to fuse what seemingly appear to be two disparate ideas the Ballet Russe and rural Spanish culture of the early 20th Century into an almost seamless design aesthetic. And a more interesting and notable aspect to this collection, Palomo Gomez found a way to inject the brand’s signature aesthetic of gender fluidity in a way that was not overwhelming, but added to the brilliance of the collection.
In this fall 2019 outing, Gomez expertly paired feminine and masculine silhouettes, which is expected. What was superb in this collection is Gomez’s acumen of pairing the feminine with the masculine is a way that is more accessible than in previous seasons.
There was also a wide array of brand accessories in this collection, ranging from gloves, hats, and bags to shoes and belts. These dynamic accessories came in the signature deconstructed polka dot print, as well as leather and suede. Additionally, there were several garments that could easily be mixed and matched with items within this collection or garments from other collections—particularly the collection’s jackets and skirts.
Fashion has on-going love affair with classic silhouettes from the 1950s and 1940s. And those eras of changing attitudes in fashion is not enough for the current arry of fashion designers, brands and designers will reach back to iconic fashion designs of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. And if grunge becomes the style that a fashion designer is referencing, then the 1990s becomes the order of the day.
For it pre-fall 2019 collection, Missoni reaches back to some of the brand’s iconic knitwear collections from the 1980’s while its founder and creator Ottavio Missoni was still at the helm of the company. This archival re-imagination of 80s trends successfully accomplishes what brands of Missoni’s ilk sometimes fail to demonstrate.
Conjuring up and repurposing iconic collections of yore is a risky move for well-known fashion brands, particularly when the originator of the iconic collection is not currently manning said fashion brand. The repurposed collection will always be compared to the original iconic collection.
Still, it takes quite a bit of craftsmanship to pull all of these inspirations and design aesthetics into a cohesive collection. And for pre-fall 2018 Missoni has done just that!!
Two things can be said about Anne Barge, her bridal collections are ideal for brides that are looking for traditional gowns and her collections always have a strong story. That is not to say that Anne Barge’s bridal collections don’t contain the occasional trending bridal pieces; however, Anne Barge, for the last couple of decades, has established her bridal brand as the go-to bridal brand for modern brides that want traditional fare.
“The Anne Barge fall 2019 bridal collection is full of mystery and surprise. Past the clean, graphic lines of the collection lies layers of rich detail and meticulous craftsmanship,” explains Jacobs. “This season, inspiration is taken from perspective photography, with each dress open to interpretation base on the viewers’ lens.”
