Don’t be fooled by the penguins.
Thom Browne chose them as his “animal of the season,” making funny bags in their shape, and embroidering penguins on various jackets and skirts, but his fall collection was not about lovable birds who can’t fly. Nor was it about ice-skating, though the set was a storybook frozen pond from another time, surrounded by barren trees, a beached rowboat and fake penguins. The models glided over the rink — actually, some staggered — wearing boots that looked like literal ice skates including the blades.
Browne likes to play, but he is extremely serious about his work, the craftsmanship of clothes, and that was really the focus of this extraordinary collection. “This season, between men’s and women’s, it was really about appreciation of fabric and construction,” he said after the show, understating it all.
Browne paints a full picture. Here, it was colored mostly in icy shades of gray — both the set and the clothes, which were compilations of traditional, buttoned-up men’s suiting, feminized in silhouette but done with all the masculine finishes. Neckties, sock garters, elongated starched cuffs with thumb-holes and long john layers emphasized the bundled, just-in-from-the cold look.
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There’s not enough space here to go on about all the incredible, imaginative treatments Browne cooked up within the context of classic tailoring, but to talk about a few: A double breasted overcoat in gray herringbone Harris Tweed with black tulle overlay was shown “inside out” to make the construction the decoration. A striped sport coat — worn over striped pants with a giant striped intarsia mink muff — was composed of strips of linen-chest canvas, blue mink, dark gray 130s and grosgrain ribbon. A double-breasted sack jacket in gray cavalry twill was covered in exquisite chandelier embroideries of tiny buttons and worn over down puffer trousers.
There were tweeds, argyles and blown-out houndstooth. Some pieces qualified as relative basics, others were delightfully out-there explorations of an anything-is-possible approach to tailored fabrics. For example, an embroidered chesterfield covered in loops, almost like a tailored approximation of faux fur, made from silk and lace suiting. It was worn over an amazing shredded lace skirt. At some point, Browne introduced sporty color, and he closed the show with elegant, creative riffs on black tie tuxedos — oh yes, the penguin suit — including a bride in a black puffer tuxedo jacket with a train, trailed by a maiden to carry it.
That was just the clothes. Browne did not miss any opportunity to kick up the details: bags that were shaped like white shirts and black jackets, white boots done in white-shirt-black-tie trompe l’oeil. Taking the idea of fabric appreciation to another level, he wrapped all the set’s trees and reeds with gray tailored fabrics. The models’ lips, eyebrows and manicures were cut from stick-on gray herringbone and plaid. Their hair trailed with ultralong braids made from more gray fabric.
The sum of the many parts was a powerful, lyrical, complete look. If it tickled the fashion crowd, one can see how it might confuse or intimidate a civilian. But the truth is, any one of the lineup’s spectacular jackets or coats could be worn with a pair of jeans. In that sense, there’s a lot of reality in Browne’s wild imagination.