Johnson Hartig has a great sense of humor and it’s reflected season after season in his label, Libertine. The spring showing was a blast — literally, as music blared and his boys and girls modeled their Seventies-era, English-anarchy, punk-rock looks with appropriate attitude.
Hartig showed his British roots with Union Jack motifs, including a giant flag-print trenchcoat paired with bejeweled lip sunglasses, and referenced Georgian jewelry, miniature portrait prints and Chinese wallpaper, working these motifs in rich details and kitsch prints on everything from appealing outerwear to quirky knit sweaters. Key women’s looks included embellished military jackets, portrait prints on a pantsuit and beautiful bedazzled coats with fur collars. To up the amusement factor, he paired the looks with rainbow-hued furry shoes.
The same sensibility shone through in the men’s offering. The black-and-white portrait prints were used on pants and coats and the British flag on suits and bombers. A standout was the painted leather moto jacket in a mix of colors and patterns and emblazoned with the words “We Hate Everything.” Too bad we don’t believe it. Basketball shorts with a tropical print that Hartig said was a mash-up of Bob Marley and Wham showed the playful side of the line. “We never take ourselves too seriously,” he said just after dancing off the runway with the models.