Fashion runs on ideas. They’re the fuel that keeps the creatives creating, the salespeople selling and the consumers not just consuming but desiring. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are those rare designers who have bucket-loads of the stuff at their disposal, always exploring and experimenting, always developing and evolving. At their S/S 17 show, they presented more than enough to keep you going for a while and what’s more, it was vibrant, exuberant and fun.
It’s wonderful to see designers reach a level of comfort and confidence with their craft that propels them to push forward, even further. The Proenza Schouler guys made and showed things – from the cut of a piece to the fabrics - that, as always, were not quite what they seemed. This was true even down to the styling itself, it felt new and compelling, in the way a plissé skirt seemed to defy gravity and appear to take off or how a woven top adorned at the hem with ostrich feathers was in fact made entirely of the feathers themselves. Next time you see someone tie a sweatshirt around their mink coat remember where you saw it first. It sounds gimmicky but the question is, did it look cool? It did. Technological wonders aside, the pulsating colours alone would have been enough - from a Mondrian-esque big knit to a poppy-red patent leather coat to magenta and saffron print dresses that wrapped around the body. Every look stood out, particularly a white leather skirt that folded over as if the top of a dress was rolled down, creating a paper-bag waist of sorts. Or a black cashmere turtleneck with a big heart cut-out at the front and the way a striped blazer snugly buttoned up or a ruffled knit over those voluminous pleated skirts, recreating Dior’s Bar silhouette. Proenza Schouler’s New Look. It’s a great idea.
