Why save the best for last? Or when it comes to your wardrobe, those special pieces for special occasions only? With his spring collection “Assembly No. 15,” independent Berlin designer Michael Sontag said he wanted to make the precious an everyday affair, putting clothes “there may be no rational reason you need, but that you still want” into the foreground.
Sontag is known for his literally twisted ways of draping, folding and seducing sumptuous fabrics into simultaneously simple yet complex constructions, and this continued apace. In the mood to show more skin, as he put it, his lineup started off with the most pared down of jackets — no buttons, no shoulder seams — in a high sheen petrol satin, worn over nothing more than a skin-toned bra, a body-hugging, paneled pencil skirt in black and navy with a bolt of silver Swarovski stones and clogs from Berlin shoe brand Trippen. His frequent asymmetrical features — shaping necklines and hems, disparate treatments for shoulders and sleeves — looked relaxed, not forced, though his flirting with Swarovski studded net and fluttering fabric strips seemed a more show-time effect.
Like several other designers this season, Sontag took his first leap into men’s wear, and a supple yet pared-down trench and a fly-front, seemingly seamless little jacket were immediate hits.