After doing a romantic dive into the world of Georgia O’Keeffe and the American Southwest for her pre-collection, Michelle Rhee evolved her 3.1 Phillip Lim lineup for fall by musing on O’Keeffe at dusk, with stoic pictures of the artist, moody colors and organic stone as updated inspirations. It lead to a more complex, nuanced collection with a color palette of inky blues on embossed croc bomber jackets, milky purples on a studded jacket and jet-black washed denim with exposed zippers and utility pockets.
Pre-fall leaned romantic but for fall Rhee punched up the tough-yet-cool vibe with tiger prints across silk dresses, alpaca knits and shirting. She takes a very deliberate design approach, mixing the codes of the brand in new ways. Take, for instance, one of her mixed-media dresses or a coquettish evening statement of a croc-embossed strapless dress with a faux-fur hem. The faux fabrications were also on outerwear and robe coats, another way to leave an impression.
The way it was all assembled was the real trick. Layer satin slipdresses over double-knit short-sleeve tops and throw on a loose drop-shoulder cropped bomber jacket and you get today’s downtown cool girl.