Heron Preston’s back-to-back shows rolled out in a Marais garage that was bristling with activity: There were workers bashing nails into wooden boxes that were stacked and used to build the set; male and female models walked and posed in utility-inspired clothing and Virgil Abloh – fresh from his runway debut at Louis Vuitton – made an appearance, hugging Preston and posing with him after the final show. “I’m here to support my best friend,” said Abloh of his fellow Chicago native.
The buzz at the show – which was inspired by a Diego Rivera fresco of a Ford motors assembly line – reflected the fast pace of growth at the brand. Next month, Heron will open his first monobrand store, a unit on Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay, not far from Abloh’s Off-White one. During the show, Preston debuted his first Nike collaboration – performance eyewear with a series of pop-out lenses adapted to the different times of day. The designer also has a fall/winter 2018 collaboration with NASA that will debut later this year on Mr Porter.
The collection itself was a co-ed offer, and included a new camouflage print taken from a satellite image of the Australian terrain. It spread over baggy trousers cinched with colored utility belts, Harrington style jackets and knee-length shorts. Preston worked up a cool hybrid coat with a green hood that looked like a trench from the front and was a bright patchwork of colored nylon at the back. Splashes of bright color also came in the form of a shrunken green skirt suit, and wizard and heron placement prints on T-shirts and sweatshirts.
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Utility belts were big news, too: A plastic click buckle cinched the hybrid trench, while life vest-style pulls snaked around the waist of a sleekly tailored silver foil coat, no doubt dreamed up with help from his new NASA pals.