If you blinked you missed it. That’s how New York Fashion Week felt to us this season. It started with the announcement that Tom Ford (head of the CFDA) wasn’t showing because of supply issues due to Covid. Then some of our fave emerging designers shared they were skipping, and Imitation of Christ decided to do something in the metaverse. In preparation for a larger event in LA in March. So you might forgive us for some days forgetting it was even going on. But of course we didn’t forget! And –in no particular order– here are our favorite shows with great clothes and values that align well with our own.
A.Potts
The A.Potts SKINFOLK autumn/winter collection explored the idea of ‘nudes’ and forgotten shades of nude colored clothing through skin tones, sculptural shapes, and noir-romantics. Fabric and texture also played an important role. Designer Aaron Potts used knits, vegan suede and patent, boiled wool and artisan tweeds to create gorgeous pieces –that are asking to be touched. He also spent time reflecting on relationships with friends and family and these became inspiration for many of the looks. He shared with us:
“I initially knew I wanted to explore the idea of ‘nudes’, specifically shades often forgotten when talking about nude colored clothing: pale blushes, coppers, chocolate browns and even jet black as a ‘nude’ color. In researching this theme, I was reminded of the iconic quote by Zora Neale Hurston “All my skinfolk ain’t kinfolk”.
Fun fact: Ms. Hurston happens to be my paternal cousin! The word SKINFOLK became the title of the collection and it took me down a path of considering who are my skinfolk, my kinfolk, my family, my tribe. I decided to cast the show only with models with whom I have relationships. Many of my models have become like my nieces and nephews. And my muse, Judene, is a dear friend of many years who I think is the coolest, chicest woman on the planet. They all have such distinct personalities and energies, and many of the looks were designed and styled specifically for them as a way to express my love for them. For silhouettes, we looked at expanding on our themes of volume, airiness and relaxed silhouettes…adding in some contrasting streamlined pieces…all while ramping up the chic spirit.”
The noir-romantic inspiration is about viewing black and brown people through a softer, more thoughtful, more angelic and more esoteric lens than we are often afforded in the mainstream.
Aaron Potts
Puppets + Puppets
Merging fashion and fine art and working with recycled and organic materials, Puppets + Puppets offers a playful take on fashion. The brand started out as performance art but has quickly become a full business with clothing stocked at Bergdorf Goodman and SSENSE. Besides using sustainable materials, they also work to ensure the materials are sourced from women-led fair labor businesses and are working towards a circular supply chain. This season Puppets + Puppets showed major trends like cutout knitwear and plaid, but at the same time gave us some special pieces like their dog-printed coat and uniquely cut dresses.
BEVZA
BEVZA’s Love Letters collection celebrates love through time and distance and loving Earth through careful acts to make our planet a cleaner, better place. This collection featured recycled and upcycled materials like wax-sealed buttons made of post-consumer plastic lids and rib knit made from plastic bottles. A particularly eye-catching knit was also used for key pieces of the collection that gives the effect of a scaley, fish-like texture. Wanting to reduce waste in all stages of the creation process, BEVZA used leftover scrap fabrics to create piecework dresses handmade slowly by tailors.
Rentrayage
How can a fashion brand do luxury sustainably? One way is using what is known as “deadstock” material –but only the best. For this season, designer Erin Beatty traveled to the textile mills in Florence, Italy to find fabrics.
Textile waste is an oft unexplored and misunderstood part of the fashion industry and a garment’s life cycle: there is an enormous amount of fabric that is produced and discarded, languishing in warehouses, much of which will end up in landfills. Beatty aims to save this fabric and turn it into something exquisite – creating a real sense of desire around retired textiles.
Recycled cashmere also enters the collection, in knit sweaters and balaclavas produced from yarns that Beatty found could be recycled in a truly sustainable way. The focus on details at the neck and waist in this collection are a physical reminder to come back to the body, to reinforce our humanity and corporeal form. With fully constructed hidden corsets and shirring to create volume in unexpected places, Beatty wanted to offer solutions to the customer in 2022 on the complex quest for modernity, wearability and sustainability.
Rentrayage is a meditation on how to create fashion that feels fresh and wearable while being also kind to the environment – how we can reduce our impact while celebrating life as we live it.
Gabriela Hearst
This season, Gabriela Hearst leaned into gender-fluid styles more than ever before, inspired both by the influence of her teenage daughters and the creative Renaissance era. The designs in this collection honored nature this season by using botanical dyes to achieve beautifully hued sweaters. A few featured pieces were even designed to showcase the beauty of peacock feathers and Ana Martinez Orizondo’s tree paintings.
Melke
Melke’s Falcon’s Flame collection was inspired by Ashford Castle in Ireland and investigates the relationship between man and animal. Elements of falconry, horseback riding, hunting, and herding can be seen in the details of the collection to highlight the contrast between the opulence of the castle and the ruggedness of the outdoors. Melke is another brand that shows gender-fluid styles and we are particularly impressed by their dedication to sustainable manufacturing and partnership with Knit One, Change One, which helps women achieve education and financial independence.