September 8, 2019 |
On a night when Ralph Lauren decided to skip on his signature denim, the planets must have aligned as the world got to see who might be joining him on the throne of All-American designers. Brandon Maxwell is best known for his work with Lady Gaga and the glam red-carpet dressing, but his SS20 show took a turn onto Route 66.
Jeans – a lot of them, joined by visions of elevated everyday shirts and crisp tailoring, was the unexpected base for Maxwell’s collection which was, perhaps for the first time in the history of his brand, rooted in reality. Yes, his glitzy eveningwear came in abundance later in the collection, but even then – the elevate hauteness of these looks seems to have been replaced by a sense of approachable luxury That is, if you have a heavenly body of Candice Swanepoel. The show also marked the debut of Brandon Maxwell menswear, which the designer created as an ode to his fiancé. There, the luxe day fabrics effortlessly merged with the decadence of occasion dressing, perhaps best seen in a look of a light pink tuxedo worn with a salmon knit.
It’s not like he needed that affirmation to prove his success, but last night’s show definitely displayed the complex layers of Maxwell’s skillset. Yes, he might have come up with that elaborate performance Gaga wowed this year’s Met Gala audience with, but he also makes a damn good pair of jeans.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans.
