Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Courtesy of Off-White, Calvin Klein, Fforme
On the way to the Off-White show, after a slice at Petee’s Pie Company on Delancey, I passed a line of teenagers waiting for an event, the guys in low-riding jeans and athletic shirts, the girls in as little as possible. IB Kamara, the designer of Off-White, was holding his show on the rooftop gym of the nearby New Design High School, and as I went down a hallway with other guests to the roof, we were greeted with cheers from students gathered to watch our little fashion parade.
It was nothing, of course, compared to what Kamara put on. He’d arranged to have corrugated metal sheets painted with big lavender and pink flowers and layered with graffiti. And that served as a backdrop for a collection that, in color and graphic sharpness, reflected significant aspects of the city, like its energy and love of display and sports. That came through in the flowing, multicolored intarsia patterns of Kamara’s trousers and jackets. Some of the designs were almost undifferentiated from the backdrop, which clearly was the intention. And the girls on Delancey would have shrieked for the tiny satin shorts, styled with pouch belts, and worn with filmy halter tops in those swirling patterns.
Off-White Courtesy of Off-White.
Off-White Courtesy of Off-White.
Off-White Courtesy of Off-White.
Off-White Courtesy of Off-White.
In one way or another, the shows on Friday spoke to the influence of New York—and American fashion—on designers’ imaginations. Maybe it helps to approach the city at an angle, from a distance. Kamara was born in Sierra Leone and partly raised in London. Nicolas Aburn, who made his debut for Area, is American but spent 18 years in Europe, most recently at Balenciaga. Frances Howie, who put on a superb show for Fforme, is a New Zealander who worked in London. Veronica Leoni, the creative director of Calvin Klein, is from Rome. And Maria McManus, who has a devoted following in the U.S., is Irish.
Aburn of Area and Howie of Fforme probably took the most considered approaches to New York and American fashion, with quite different results.
Area, founded about a decade ago, shares a name with a once-famous club, and Aburn’s idea, as he put it, was to reflect that scene, “this mix of very extreme avant-garde performance artists and just banal — people wearing banal black leather jackets.” And because the weird mix included socialites in proper gowns, Aburn added a few of those.
Inevitably, the show felt disjointed, with the “banal” being too often ordinary (a black hoodie with a pair of black cropped pants and heels) and the extreme landing on predictable (a mini dress made of coils of metallic ribbon). And sometimes Aburn made the mistake of letting his virtuosity show, as with a denim mini skirt finished at the hem with a knot of stiffened pant legs. He repeated that technique a few times.
The most interesting designs in the collection were the worn-looking pieces based on an athletic jersey. In their trashed appearance, they evoked a night out; they also connected to American teen culture. And they made me think of Raf Simons’ early collections for Calvin Klein and his collaborations with the artist Sterling Ruby and, as well, some Marc Jacobs’ shows. Such connections are important. But what I’m most curious to see, going forward, is Aburn’s own sensibility.
For her second collection for Fforme, Howie’s aim was to do “a very resolved take on American sportswear,” she said, and make clothes that feel light on the body. She did both brilliantly and without letting the effort show. Many of the fabrics were cotton and silk, including a washed silk in either slate gray or acid teal used for a long, body-skimming dress with batwing sleeves. It’s essentially a t-shirt.
Fforme Courtesy of Fforme.
Fforme Courtesy of Fforme.
Howie was also clever in how she drew on her own memories of living in a wetsuit in the summer in New Zealand, and how kids would throw on a pair of skate trousers or shorts after surfing. That idea came across in the show as a sleeveless black rubber top with ergonomic seams in the back and an off-to-the-side side zipper tracing the form of the body. As soft as leather, the top was shown with crisp black cotton pants. For Howie, the collection was a forward leap, bringing more sensuality and practical ease — more purpose — to the label.
Fforme Courtesy of Fforme.
Fforme Courtesy of Fforme.
There were moments in the Calvin Klein show when a genuine feeling for something came through — say, for a simple apron-style dress or a light khaki pantsuit with an easy, boxy jacket. But these moments were decidedly rare. This is Leone’s second major collection for the brand, and she can’t seem to resist the rigid and contrived. Diaper shorts with a diaperish top in a sad floral print? A shift dress woven (seemingly) from the waistbands of the brand’s famous underwear? Leone even had a kind of corset belt with two big pom-poms suspended from it and knocking about the model’s legs. Leone is making things far more complicated and “fashionable” than they need to be at Calvin.
Calvin Klein Courtesy of Calvin Klein.
Calvin Klein Courtesy of Calvin Klein.
Calvin Klein From left: Photo: Isidore Montag – Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com/Courtesy of Calvin KleinPhoto: Isidore Montag – Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com/Courtesy of Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein From top: Photo: Isidore Montag – Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com/Courtesy of Calvin KleinPhoto: Isidore Montag – Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com…
Calvin Klein From top: Photo: Isidore Montag – Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com/Courtesy of Calvin KleinPhoto: Isidore Montag – Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com/Courtesy of Calvin Klein
In her press notes, McManus asked, “Is it idealistic to center this type of creative harmony when selfishness, greed, and even cruelty are becoming the norm? Perhaps. But especially in times of conflict, an undercurrent of collaboration—particularly among women—helps keep community not just safe but inspired and innovative.”
McManus backed up those words with a powerful collection of just 21 looks. Her sense of femininity is always strong and straightforward — and every detail, down to the button and hand-crafted detail considered — but this time I had the feeling that McManus was pulling more ideas from within herself. Macrame and smocking details on dresses were loosely inspired by an aunt’s tablecloth or her own childhood dresses.
Yet the collection wasn’t nostalgic or sentimental. Not in the least. The cut of the clothes, their versatility and a world-wise dose of sensuality made this a particularly good McManus collection.
