Hillary Taymour is aiming to be “the best,” as in the most transparent, real and experiential, for both herself and her brand, Collina Strada. For spring, Taymour aimed to create an immersive experience that reflected ways to help the earth with a farmers market (produce and flowers were set on tables next to the runway)-slash-runway show (which took over a whole block on Rutherford Place). Afterward, guests were welcome to take home produce and flowers, courtesy of Misfits and Local Roots, with Baggu bags that were placed on each seat. It was refreshing to see a designer directly shine a light on important world issues, but it begged the questions of why it required such a lengthy production — the show ran over 30 minutes.
With her 40-look collection, Taymour wanted to emulate the feeling of being in a vintage store. “It can still feel really modern and fresh,” the designer noted post-show, “but it’s still renewing and reusing.” Aside from jersey, the lineup was impressively comprised of otherwise completely repurposed deadstock materials. Also important to note, the designer was able to repeat her own print designs on various fabrics, like a scribbled floral pattern that was printed on separates that ranged from velvet halters to mesh pants through a collaboration with SwatchOn that was made possible with help from the CFDA.
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The haphazard lineup included plenty of print-on-print layers as well as looks that pretty much lacked clothing entirely. It wasn’t to say there weren’t strong stand-alone sartorial hits, like a sharp mixed floral blazer (atop upcycled, flower-shaped, Perler-bead-studded underwear and matching Hoka sandals and earrings), a hot pink spaghetti-strap day dress or vintage floral button-ups; they just seemed to get lost in the shuffle. However accessories, specifically shoes made in partnership with Hoka, made for stronger points in the collection. Both sneakers and sandals were enveloped with fabric that matched each look, were playfully painted on or came encrusted in Perler beads.
“Elevate, elevate, elevate, elevate,” Taymour expressed of the collection. You be the judge.