After going through every collection presented in New York, I noticed a few designers, most of them new-comers: Wes Gordon, Billy Reid, Alexandria Hilfiger and Nary Manivong, Shane Gabier and Chris Peters, Steven Alan, and Araks Yeramyan (i said “most of them new-comers”, not all of them), who’s collections are, actually, really good. Yes, they all share some kind of similarity in terms of silhouettes, but overall this new generation of designers are looking back into bringing the basics alive again. Maybe they’re not everyone taste but i like them all.
Wes Gordon
The Central Saint Martins grad only has 2 season under his belt and it’s starting to show. The young designer, who interned in the studios of Tom Ford and Oscar de la Renta, presented a collection that mixed the thought of looking elegant yet hip and young. The tailoring on the clothes was exceptional and it can be easily spotted in the tailored-to-perfection pants and jackets (see the 1rst and 5th picture). The cherry-on-top of this collection was the finale gown, which, to me, clearly shows that he was trained in Oscar de la Renta. Between the high neck-ed warm-yellow (I just invented that name) top and the exploding midnight blue silk taffeta skirt, I couldn’t agree more that Gordon is walking in the right path (didn’t I sound like priest? ugh) and has a bright future ahead. Now let’s wait and see what he delivers next season.
Billy Reid
Reid, who started 3 seasons ago, presented for spring a more subtle and completely wearable warm collection. This menswear designer took on the road of doing more womenswear in which he clearly decided to match the many guys (speaking of the looks, not the models) he presented.To me he tried and won the golden nugget diamond ticket doing it (just made that up), to show the feminine and the masculine version of the same person (in this case since he’s a menswear designer, the 2 versions of the same man). Maybe it was pure irony, or it was just me who noticed it, but even the models matched. Everything rolls around the idea of Preppy meets Country-side.
NAHM
On the other hand, this collection was interesting since both the designers only focus on shirtdresses, it was interesting -I recall- to see how the invented new shapes, silhouettes… how they played with fabrics and colors to re-invent the aah uuhm eeh: ‘shirtdress’. Alexandria Hilfiger and Nary Manivong. Something that first came to my mind while I browsing this collection was Schoolgirl Uniforms from the 40’s transitioning from sweet innocent little girls, to slightly rebel teens, to senior prom nerdy young prom president (quite funny how I explain it). Since this is their second season (tadaaah their sophomore year) it will be really interesting to see what they show next season. *Crossed Fingers*.
Creatures of the Wind
Another up and coming label with 2 seasons in New York and others under it’s pocket. Designers Shane Gabier and Chris Peters presented one of my favorite collections this season. The psychedelic rebelness, the color scheme, the prints, the fabric, the styling, the silhouettes, everything was bloody amazing (try to say it in your best possible British accent, sounds a lot cooler). Young, fresh and fun. You’ll be stunned but I quite see a grown up Angelica Pickles from The Rugrats all over this collection. One of the many favorite pieces that I fell for in this collection was the, as I like to call it, neo-cowgirl-meets-New-York’s-private-high-school shirt made half of blue farmer plaid and half strawberry-ice-cream underneath an overlay of turquoise lace, the floral printed mid-calf-length shift dress with bright green lace ruffling on the bodice, to name a few. This Chicago based designers should show in London instead of New York, personally, I think they belong to that cool-rebel-punky-quirky London gang. They can be compared to, and I will dare to say, Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Richard Nicoll and Marios Schwab (to not mention all of the cool kids, because I could keep going on and on and on and on and on…). And this is yet another show I'm eagerly waiting next season.
Steven Alan
Yes, by now, you’ll be saying “oh, yet another preppy collection”. But that’s where I’ve been venturing lately. Steven Alan showed this season, been his 4th collection (including resort and this one), a collection full of wearable garments, completely relaxed and entirely preppy. Also, for me, a little bit of the 60’s were thrown into the mix here. The color scheme was basically neutrals and light tones with a few pops of bright colors here and there. The silhouettes weren’t new to our eyes but he definitely re-vamped those vintage-old-preppy silhouettes. My favorite look is the checkered black and white skinny pant suit (last look) which is the quintessential preppy uniform.
Araks
Araks Yeramyan is no new to the catwalk. She started in 2000 doing only lingerie, woman's lingerie, and jumped to womenswear ready-to-wear in 2006 being her debut collection. What I like about her is how she uses lingerie fabrics in unexpected pieces, how she bring the bedroom to the streets without being literal and tacky (hint, hint, hint, the 5th look here: the white dropped waist pleated chiffon calf-length dress). For this spring she presented a collection with quite a boyish charm yet super feminine. According to style dot com tennis uniforms were part of the inspiration, it showed, but there was no actual tennis uniforms, maybe from 1920’s/40’s/50’s. One look, which was really interesting, and that totally captured that boyish charm I mentioned above was the third look from left to right shown here: the dropped waist/crotch green pants paired with the navy blue -kind of straight cut- t-shirt over a crisp white button down. The floral print was also really beautiful and pretty, yet it didn’t look too matronly despite the oddly silhouette (last look here). And this is yet another designer who I’m really excited to look forward to next season.
PS: Sorry for being kind of absent for quite a few days, school’s on my back.
Picture Source: Style dot Com
