Derek Lam 10 Crosby still feels like a bit of a well-kept secret, perhaps because Lam and Liz Giardina, the collection’s vice president of design, have taken a low-key approach to showing the collection — no formal shows or presentations. But the clothes, shoes and bags — and now for fall 2016, a new denim line — are in the top tier of what’s available in the upper-contemporary arena.
Giardina worked from the masculine/feminine tension that has reached ubiquity up and down the markets, yet her point of view never felt generic. An ivory high-neck Victorian blouse with lace and pin-tuck details was fresh with glen plaid pants. Foulard prints used on swingy godet dresses didn’t look plucked from an old man’s tie collection. The lineup was full of items that could stand alone as much as they worked together. More examples: lush faux shearlings, a striped sweater dress and pajama, and black pants and a camisole trimmed with an elegantly minimal chain detail.
The decision to launch denim, which has always been used in the collection, came because “we all wear jeans everyday,” Giardina said of her team. The five-style range is made in America and has a non-stretch, high-waisted style for the fashion woman as well as classic flares, a patchwork boyfriend and stretch skinnies “that are not a jegging,” assured Giardina.