February feels like a blur. Maybe it because January always seems longer than it should. But I’m more certain it’s because of the swing of fashion week.
The F/W 2020 presentations were an exciting display of new visions and trends. There may have been a few adjustments here and there due to the ongoing outbreak, but fashion persisted.
As usual multitudes of looks went down the runway from outrageous and outlandish to simple and sophisticated. Designers bent the rules until it would break. From the broken pieces, they put together a new way of configuring outfits.
This got me thinking about how all of us always go back to our standard outfits. Each person, no matter how experimental, has that one outfit combination that they can rely on. It’s the one they turn to when there is nothing to wear. It’s the look that takes them day-to-night and gives them all the confidence and compliments.
Every season, I never miss out on looking at the collection from The Row. If you’ve been reading my column for a while, you’d know how they’re my favorite season after season. It’s not different this fall/winter 2020. The show opened with Gigi Hadid in a black suit signaled how The Row is unwavering in its belief of chic well-tailoring. Understatement was the luxury along with choice fabrics that feel good to touch.
Tibi is another favorite brand of mine and they too felt that simple was best for the season. The brand skipped out on staging the usual fashion show for New York Fashion Week and opted to have a showroom style presentation in SoHo. Fitting since the inspiration is designer Amy Smilovic’s trips to Port Chester, New York.
The collection was inspired by travel but not the one with vacations filled with aplomb and attention. It’s more about connecting to the surroundings and the trips we take culturally not just physically. Port Chester, though just an afternoon’s trip for Smilovic, is full of immigrants. The jet-setter spirit wasn’t lost at all with deconstructed sweaters, coats, jackets, and other ensembles that worked for everyday chores but also can be worn to the airport at a moment’s notice.
If you need some color and excitement, then always rely on John Galliano. For Maison Margiela, he went set out doing what he knows best: maximalism. Sarah Mowver of Vogue describes it best: “Who else could pull off a palette that put tangerine next to brown and mustard, orange with pale mauve and electric blue, then could suddenly switch from odd pastels to an intense splash of red and deep shades of forest green? Cornflower blue, absinthe, loden green, turquoise, teal, primary yellow, and brown bordeaux, running from fragile chiffon washes to punchy solids—it was painterly, masterful.”
Though the fall/winter colors demand a somber palette, Galliano didn’t care. I always think you shouldn’t either. Fashion demands fun.
Continuing on in the fun, there’s MSGM. The season’s collection drew inspiration from movies like Deep Red, The Cat O’ Nine Tails, Suspiria and Phenomena. The looks were all about the strong female with tweed coats off-set by colorful shirts and strappy shoes worn with socks.
GCDS is what you need if you want casual but statement outfits. The brand went for cropped tops, colored bandeaus underneath flowy coats. Take note of the thigh-high white boots and the micro-bags: These are keys to update the usual.
