February 14, 2017 |
Our love for the Proenza Schouler boys borders on something close to arrestable. Hence why we’re secretly very happy that they are upping sticks to Europe next season to show during Paris Couture Week. Whispers: you’ll be closer to us that way. New York, though, is naturally very sad. Sad that they will be leaving the city that they have long called home. On which we should note (else we’ll get in trouble) – that this is just “for now”. No news yet as to whether it’s permanent. But either way, there was something of the swan song to this. Not to suggest, in any way, that they are dying. But it was a bit of a bit of a goodbye. “It’s our representation of New York,” they said of the show. And this New York, the one that walked the catwalk this afternoon, was a bit of a cruel mistress. Not that these clothes were in any way severe. Or cruel, for that matter. But they were tough. Streetwise. Big shearling jackets, deconstructed tailoring, heaps of leather. Sharp and geometric lines that sliced the model’s bodies, opening up into holes and slashes. Graffiti style squiggles in latex. But even the cruelest of mistresses has a sweet centre. And there was a sweetness – even girlishness – to this too, coming through in those edible candy colours, the layers of shimmering fabric or the silhouette, that wrapped around the body and cinched at the waist, highlighting the model’s feminine forms. Could we even go as far to say there was something of the disco dolly to this season’s ladies? Those metallic leathers certainly said so, so too that echo of 60s futurism – the cut-out circles, the bangles that twisted and climbed up the model’s arms. Backstage afterwards, it ended with a passing of the mantle as Raf Simons popped back to congratulate the boys on the show. It might be the end of an era for the moment, but coming or going, New York will always be the lifeblood of the Proenza boys’ work.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
