September 11, 2019 |
Frills, sequins, denim corsets… If someone showed you the catwalk images of Eckhaus Latta’s SS20 show without telling you the name of the designer, you’d probably guess a few different brands before tracing the signature elements back to Zoe Latta and Mike Eckhaus. The bi-coastal design duo has been considered as leaders of the wave of emerging designers on the NYFW schedule for a while now, and it seems like they’re tired of being shoehorned into the category. Slick and refined, the collection they showed yesterday was a departure from their usual DIY-looking throwback fashions. Yes, the craft was still there, but the silhouettes seemed toned down and more streamlined than previous seasons. But don’t mistake this sense of simplicity with a lack of irreverence.
At the end of the day, all of Eckhaus Latta’s clothes are meant to look as good on a hanger as they do on the human body. They’re one of the rare American brands that successfully morph radical ideas into shoppable results, and have been doing so since their launch in 2011. However, as time goes by, the brand evolves and so does their shopper. The girl that was once happy to go out dancing in a pair of knitted knickers and a matching bralette now wants to turn her shorts into a mid-length skirt and wear a crisp white shirt under the top. That girls is model, actress and long-time friend of the brand Hari Nef. Without a doubt, there was still plenty of quirky elements that could only be Eckhaus Latta’s – slashes and exposed nipples, fine oversized tailoring, and a new chapter in their collaboration with Ugg. Eight new shapes (five women’s and three unisex) all carried the clunky, slightly awkward sensibility we know and love.
So, are they really toning it down or is the world around them just getting used to their mad ideas? Probably a little bit of both, but instead of letting the buzz around them fade out, Eckhaus Latta are growing into a ready-to-wear brand with a global appeal and we’re totally here for it.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans.
