While designers celebrate anniversaries, returns, and remixes, they're also discovering a balance between past and present
to all the ways she’s helped steer a certain kind of New York woman’s style, someone who is confident, effortlessly put-together, but also maybe a little kooky too.In many ways, these anniversaries and returns and remixes have offered us all a chance to look back on some of the best times of American fashion.
We know that nostalgia is a cash cow design concept when it comes in the forms of reissued bags, shoes, and prints. But, as Do seems to understand on some level, you can’t recreate an era of style. So how does American fashion beat a totally new path forward? After several seasons of slightly confused points of view or over-indulgent retro clothes, and despite this season’s celebrations of yore, it seems like the New York designers are really starting to figure that out. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler proved during their show on Saturday that they’ve hit a stride—with the launch of a new logo, their latest collection was equally rooted in their past and present, with crazy chic suiting and skirts and thong heels that fashion girlies will be gagging over come spring.As everyone moves ahead, though, let this be said: if American designers really want to dress real women in their everyday lives, in New York or elsewhere, then they need to start making clothes for every shape and size and age and ability. We’re closer, but we’re not there yet, and that’s a proposition that should never receive the nostalgia treatment. Kudos to Comey, and to Batsheva Hay, for always being a leader here and truly, thoughtfully modernizing the way we view a woman’s wardrobe for work and for life. Same goes for Hillary Taymour of Collina Strada, who once again proved that past, present, and future; good, bad, and ugly can all coexist in fashion. During her show on Saturday, as her romantically quirky clothes came down the runway on models with forced smiles, she reminded us all that we can acknowledge our mistakes in the past , laugh at our current situation , and tackling the future .Speaking of tackling the future, Saturday also saw modern New York luxury in the form of Khaite’s long-line blazers and oversized jackets, whilebrilliant Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta once again made us reconsider our ideas around American sportswear and back-to-work wardrobes. In many ways, at least thus far this season, designers are evolving past that tight grip on the past—or on trying to, stylistically, fit squarely into one box or another. If the answer to "Where do we go from here?" seems to be taking some time to snap into focus, maybe that's OK—because that's how it always works. The kind of effortless, chic, sometimes experimental but also minimalistic cool that Americans are constantly looking for doesn’t break through in a New York minute. In fact, all of the American designers celebrating their pasts this season took some time to develop their distinct points of view. And style like that will always be worth waiting for.
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