For fall, Laura and Deanna Fanning said they were exploring dichotomies and contrast, and if some of the all-black looks in this lineup appear pared back on-screen, that’s not minimalist—it’s creative sleight of hand, they said. They prefer the term “modular.”
Backstage before the show, the designers said they wanted to explore the tension between fragility and clothing-as-armor: a black dress was sliced to reveal flashes of skin as its wearer moved, for example. Elsewhere, in lieu of openwork, inverted pleats revealed contrasting colors beneath, while coated cotton coats that fastened at the chin were structured by graphic trim. Also armor-like was a three-piece suit done in denim, a collaboration with Levi’s.
Highlights included the Aran knits, in mustard or red, engineered with big, pleated shoulders, long sleeves and an interesting mix of chainmail and ribbed textures. Though the designers said that they liked throwing together colors that don’t intuitively belong together, the exercise in color-blocking mostly worked. A series of curvilinear panel dresses, alternating between sheer and opaque, will likely connect with the label’s base. So, too, might the sailor striped dress with pinched lines, and some of those throw-on, draped “shield” tops.
The overall impression, however, was uneven: if the designers had settled on any one (or two, or three) of the ideas, it would have been enough.