At New York Fashion Week, Proenza Schouler offers function, less fantasy

At New York Fashion Week, Proenza Schouler offers function, less fantasy

Models wearing clothing by Proenza Schouler gather backstage prior to their runway show during New York Fashion Week
Models wearing clothing by Proenza Schouler gather backstage prior to their runway show during New York Fashion Week. Photo: Ed JONES / AFP
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Celebrate South African innovators, leaders and trailblazers with us! Click to check out Women of Wonder 2022 by Briefly News!

US fashion label Proenza Schouler on Saturday presented a low-key, functional collection, without its past conceptual showiness, as the brand marks its 20th anniversary at New York Fashion Week.

This year, designers Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough said they broke with their typical creative process.

Most often, "we get wrapped up in like a narrative or a theme or a vibe," Hernandez said after Saturday's show.

"This season... we started with literally headshots of the women in our lives that we look up to and respect on a personal level, on a stylistic level."

Those women included American actor Chloe Sevigny, who opened the show on Saturday wearing a suit and a long skirt of leather, a material used prominently in the collection.

Models pose backstage at the Proenza Schouler show
Models pose backstage at the Proenza Schouler show. Photo: Fernanda Calfat / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Getty Images via AFP
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly News on your News Feed!

Read also

Super Bowl 2023 ad pageant: Beer is in, crypto is out

Long an avant-garde and conceptual label, Proenza Schouler has evolved in recent years to build a more pragmatic wardrobe. This fall and winter 2023 collection appears to be a culmination of that trend.

"We're tired of all this fantasy, and like, Instagram clothes," Hernandez said.

The collection -- clothing with character but less swagger -- includes several relatively classic pantsuits and many below-the-knee skirts, accentuated with high boots, often in leather.

Still, Proenza has not abandoned sophistication.

Fluid dresses opened in multicolored petals as models walked the runway.

Proenza Schouler has evolved in recent years to build a more pragmatic wardrobe
Proenza Schouler has evolved in recent years to build a more pragmatic wardrobe. Photo: Fernanda Calfat / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Getty Images via AFP
Source: AFP

One bright yellow suit featured a wide collar that stretched past the shoulder, while the flap of an asymmetrical dress fell along an arm.

The designers displayed that they know, with a light touch, how to transform a silhouette with subtlety.

The 20th-anniversary collection opened "a new chapter for us," McCollough said. "It's like the beginning of something else. Something maybe more adult. We've grown up in front of all of you guys. It's time to grow up and be an adult."

Read also

Balenciaga designer apologises for 'child abuse' ads

He said Proenza's new way of conceiving their clothes was appealing and freeing.

"Sometimes theme can be nice, and that you have a device to kind of tap into. But it's also freeing to just get rid of it altogether," McCollough said.

"And just think about individual garments, and the spirit of a woman."

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.