“Forget the neutral, understandable collection before the collection. Nowadays, you have to use every chance you can to say something,” said Phillip Lim about his pre-fall collection — and he didn’t fall short in the fashion statement department. For starters, he thought about the first time he “desired clothes — the beginning of MTV, the new romantics and the early Eighties and Nineties,” which he referenced mostly via aggregated details on classic sportswear, like pearl buttons on shirts and coats, corset waistbands on trousers and jackets, and the occasional utilitarian element on maxidresses.
Bits of Victoriana successfully carried over from spring with lacing details on denim skirts, petticoat dresses layered over bloomers and gathered collars on tops. “Its all about those familiar references, reworked,” said Lim. “We have clothes,” he said. “Now we have to bring back desire.”
Mission accomplished. Women will covet a lot from this collection.