NYFW SS15- Debuts, Moods, and Basic Bitches

Whilst some designers were not in the mood for change, others were happy to embrace it and adapt it to their collection. Suno was one of such designers, with their emo-less collection of basics this season round. The moody but cool brand, this season, decided to get out of its funk and perk up with colours, stripes and spring fresh tones. It almost made up for the less than impressive week so far. They experimented with stripes on stripes, colours and playfulness. There is something to be said about a designer that is able to make basics look like basics whilst not being basics in their execution. Feel me? The midi print dress with the kerchief side hem is going to be subject to mass imitation, I am not one for the boxy silhouette but even I will admit that everything in this silhouette worked a ridiculous charm. Basics but no basic bitches allowed.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will say this again, Victoria Beckham gets women, the way we want to dress, the way we want to move and she understands, implicitly, that fashion is all about our moods. She really does. Her philosophy has always been to find that perfect synergy between comfort and style without compromising on the two. I admire the way she pushes herself but knows how and when the reign it in. I liked her SS15 collection, I fell short of loving it because of the colour palette, I wanted something more perky. Here’s that word again. This was a light but moody affair. The summer coats with big lapels, sleeveless, loose and discreetly belted, the slick summer pant suit, the chunky shoes from her debut collection. I wasn’t a fan of the florals, I know, I know, I just called her out on being moody but bright florals…this just didn’t work for me. Sorry. Maybe because I’m used to seeing her work a mean block colour, but it was all too girly and sweet for me, and nothing groundbreaking. (I just finished watching DWP), but she didn’t dwell too much on that. The winning looks were the confident, sassy shift dresses, her signature calf length skirts this time with flashes of flesh without being tacky. Collectively, it was equal parts accessible, that simple stripe maxi, and equal parts aspirational, her easy breezy coats that left us wanting more.

For Lisa Folawiyo, formerly Jewel By Lisa, a change in name meant a change in aesthetic. She meshed graphic prints and textures with her signature ankara infusing an edgy twist to her elegant pieces. That being said, this was a lukewarm outing, it didn’t hit the spot. I wanted to love this, because Lisa Folawiyo is one of my favourite designers out there, but I just wasn’t feeling much of it. The elegance, her stock in trade, felt inconsistent as if it was traded for the edge, which wasn’t needed, in my opinion. The collection was rough around the edges, which could have worked if it didn’t feel forced at other times. I appreciate the deconstruct of the dresses, tear it up and put it together with different prints and textures, and graphic detail, but the extras, disjointed hemlines, for one, felt a little overdone and silhouettes were overly complicated when they didn’t have to be. Still, she works a mean print twist.

Luis Antonio. I’ll admit until his show, I had no idea who Luis Antonio was, but he is firmly on my radar after his SS15 debut. What a stunner. It was an utter show off in balancing act, a designer who is not afraid of going HAM on prints but also ensuring it did not overpower a look by tempering it with the most perfect, most flattering silhouette. At first it felt a little same-y with the same splashy, graphic print, but that soon gave way to superior work with stripes, in a range of pretty and elegant pieces. Nothing was left to chance. He knocked me down and laid me out with the little lace numbers with scallop detail, simple but with everything going for it. Evening gowns were uncomplicated, beiges were sexed up, matter of fact beige never looked so sexy on a woman, and it was a superior achievement in balance all round.