First, they just had so much technical finesse-they were so much fun to examine individually–but taken together, they made a demented and fabulous statement, to me, about the escapist potential of preppy clothes. Some people have no patience for crazy concept clothes, but, combined with the semi-political undercurrent of the Browne movement, these felt special. We could use something with the “oh heck let’s just try it” feeling that men have with that Thom Browne skirt. Although some of the best brands in New York right now are extremely playful-like Collina Strada and Christopher John Rogers, and even Rachel Comey and The Row are getting goofier-we really lack a playground. But his men’s clothing has an incantational quality that strokes the male ego into experimentation- what if I just tried on a skirt? Women’s clothing, generally speaking, has been too serious for too long-or even worse, a bunch of silly gimmicks that feel too thin to really mean something to a woman who wants to make a strong statement with her style. International Best-Dressed List keeper Amy Fine Collins, film director Janicza Bravo, and model Ella Emhoff, who were all in attendance on Friday, all look great in his clothes. To be sure, Browne has his womenswear devotees. ![]() I’ve wondered lately whether Browne could do the same for the ladies. Still, his most radical statements happen with his most straightforward clothes-a man in a pleated Thom Browne skirt just sets people off. His menswear often reads as a statement about queerness-a camp knowingness about deviation from norms-and that happened to align with the passion for identity politics that has overtaken celebrity style. In America, the airhead and the sphinx are often one and the same.īut somehow, maybe since he started showing on and off in Paris, in 2017, Browne’s ability to freak has evolved into a movement, or at least something with a bit more urgency. You reveal your inner freak, in other words. You move to New York to find like-minded weirdos and create an edgier, more bizarre version of yourself. It was a portrait of New Yorkers “finding themselves in their toy version.” It is true-and one of the best things about New York, actually-that living in the city is a process of autobiography. Browne put it more pointedly backstage: “New York is the island of misfit toys, and everybody comes here to find themselves or create themselves,” he said. It’s what I love about this country-and one of the only things left to love, at that!Ī voiceover explained the two parts-25 straight preppy looks, and 25 crazy playful conceptual preppy looks-as New Yorkers meeting their true selves. It’s Warhol, it’s the bimbo, it’s hot dogs and milkshakes and hot fudge sundaes as cuisine. ![]() ![]() Why? Because why not! You know, in America, the airhead and the sphinx are often one and the same. Slinkies! Tubes! A jacket dressed as a jacket! Big sloppy cableknits and crazy jumbo quilted coats! ![]() There was a tennis sweater that was a tennis ball. ( Let’s hear it for the tooooys!!!) Enormous concoctions of gray flannel and plaid and stripes, wobbling on platform shoes made of stacks of classic alphabet blocks. As he said backstage, it looks expensive because it is! Come to think of it, a lot of designers can’t really say that right now. It’s amazing what you can do with just that palette of fabrics–the clothes never looked redundant–and I thought it was one of the most assured and elegant statements I’ve ever seen from Browne, loaded with skill, perfectly made. The silhouette was almost unchanged-little jackets underneath a longer leaner jacket with bracelet-length sleeves, knife-pleat and A-line skirts over trousers, big platform shoes. Models with two- and three-model-long bags sauntered out, and a model in big furry platform boots and paws and a stovepipe hat with little bear ears lumbered in as a voiceover announced, “Welcome to my Teddy Talk!” (This was technically Thom Browne’s Fall 2022 show, happening all these months after New York Fashion Week presumably to scoop up some of the celebrities in town for Monday’s gala.)Īnd then 25 killer preppy looks streamed by-great herringbone and houndstooth and pinstripe and windowpane fabrics edged with rep tie stripes and white and gray piping. (You could say the same about seeing groups of people in Browne’s clothes.) Teddy bears can’t move, so I guess I shouldn’t have been alarmed-but en masse, the stillness of these playful little prepsters had an almost hysterical, horror film effect. Friday night at the Javits Center, countless demi-celebrities in Thom Browne confections clutched small teddy bears in their arms and gazed across a field of five hundred more teddy bears seated with alarming uniformity.
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