Maybe it was too much time cooped up alone in quarantine that has sex top-of-mind for so many young designers this season? Whatever the reason, we are in the midst of a innerwear-as-outerwear, shorter-tighter, fetish-fashion moment the likes of which we haven’t seen since the ’90s. Only this time, everyone is invited to the party.
Making her New York Fashion Week debut Saturday morning at the Boom Boom Room, fittingly, Los Angeles-based Maisie Wilen designer Maisie Schloss was here for it.
“I was playing into romantic, saccharine themes but subverting it with the techno I always have in my work,” she said of bringing a sexy-sweet touch to her young brand’s body-con aesthetic, and reaching out to pop star Kim Petras to sing and sex it up for the cameras as a finale.
On the runway, Schloss’ jersey sets — cropped tops and bike shorts, leggings and turtlenecks — as well as minidresses, all came in candy colors with circular or heart-shaped cutouts, and were styled with lace stockings and heels with ribbon tied up the leg.
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Colorful lace bandeau bra tops and miniskirts, wrap sweater and trippy psychedelic spiky floral jersey dresses were also in the somewhat disconnected mix. Meanwhile, silky cardigans and tap pants in Valentine ribbon-and-bow prints made one wonder if the designer might have a sleepwear collaboration in the works.
Among her most compelling offerings, though, were the sportier pieces, including an azure blue terry pantsuit that could be the 2020s’ answer to the Juicy suit. A white ribbon-and-bow bolero jacket was also notable, as the bolero trend seems to bubbling up.
Nowadays model casting is part of a designer’s brand statement, and the Kanye West-backed Schloss had all genders, sizes and abilities. It was great to see this approach from someone new to the runway, right from the start.