Since joining Seven For All Mankind as its creative director in December, Nicola Brognano has spent numerous hours in the company’s factories exploring all the ways to manipulate denim.
And it showed in his first collection during New York Fashion Week.
He offered up innovative pieces, such as a brown cropped jacket that looked like waxed leather but was actually made from denim. In the show, he paired it with a micro miniskirt with a long train in the same fabric.
He also created a long skirt that started as the darkest black denim but was washed repeatedly until it turned gray. “The washing treatment makes it feel a bit vintage,” he said. And there was a plaid pant that was actually printed denim that he also used in a short skirt and train.
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But while denim continued to play a starring role in the collection, the Calabria, Italy-born designer, whose background includes Bluemarine and Giambattista Valli, was brought in by Seven For All Mankind to steer the company into more of a fashion brand.
“We are a premium denim house so my goal is to create a wardrobe around denim for real women,” he said, adding she is “more mature and grown-up. She’s a super cool, rich girl.”
For her jaunts around town, these cool girls might opt for Brognano’s cropped coat with a retro feel, or one of the sheer silk blouses or poplin shirts. He aimed to make them comfortable and easy to wear, using cashmere and other cozy, yet elevated fabrics.
Many of the dresses and skirts were either super short or super long and very tight or very oversize, with many looks combining the two, as evidenced by ultra-cropped tops paired with floor-length bottoms.
He also showed tailored jackets and coats, defined by bold, retro bombé shoulders that advanced the lifestyle message.
And of course there were jeans, this time only skinny and tight, some with studs that he also used on jackets.
Brognano got support from some high-powered friends including Chloë Sevigny, Aubrey Plaza, Natalia Bryant, Kate Mara, Elsa Hosk, AnnaSophia Robb, Miles Sanders and Anna Cathcart, who sat in the front row at the Friday afternoon show.