>> After last season's school girl-inspired kicky mini skirts, thigh highs, and varsity jackets, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez were ready to do "something a little more polished, maybe grown-up in a way, but our way," the latter explained. “We’d gone as short as we could, and as body-conscious as we could . . . So we took all these feminine codes — the embroideries, the flowers — and mixed them up in our own way."
Welcome the pink tweedy suits, the salmon matte croc coat, the ladylike pumps — no platforms — and the lingerie done in collaboration with Jean Yu (who also worked with Rag & Bone this season), allowing for a little covering up, a novel thought in this season of sheer. Also a surprise: flats on the Proenza Schouler runway, in sandal and knee-high gladiator form. But it wouldn't be a Proenza collection of late without a little fluoro — and it came aplenty, in acid green, pink, orange, and cobalt. Textures were complex in this collection — the first few pieces to come out had what Cathy Horyn termed the texture of "a freshly clipped poodle; no, a cauliflower; no, finer!" — and the label's trademark tie dye was reimagined this time with the ancient form of Japanese shibori.
Interesting to note: Victoria Traina was indeed listed as creative consultant on this collection, and Theory's Andrew Rosen — who was rumored earlier this year to be circling an investment in Proenza — was front row, just as rumors resurface that Rosen is looking to buy the brand from European private equity fund Permira.
