The Séeberger brothers—street-style photographers, albeit of the early twentieth century, rather than the early twenty-first—gave Jason Wu his jumping-off point for the season. (This was only his second pre-fall collection, by the way, and already more than twice the size of his first.) The duo snapped photos of demimondaines posing as gamely in their self-styled finery as any latter-day contender like Giovanna Battaglia or Caroline Sieber, and their era provided a reference point for the thirties-inspired separates and Art Deco details that ran through this solid collection.
The palette here was moodier than Spring's, almost overcast: Even pop colors like salmon and violet were tinged with gray. Picking through current trends, Wu offered a silk shirt, color-blocked knits and dresses, and moments of militaria and menswear—all gussied up, of course, with ladylike flair. A cotton twill parka was detailed along the back and sleeves with lace and glittering beads. The "basic shirt" chez Wu? It's lace. The "houndstooth" striping on skirts and dresses? Actually a mini floral print. There were ruffle-skirted party dresses for the longtime devotees, but increasingly, sportswear—of the Geoffrey Beene variety, a designer he mentions frequently—is Wu's bag. And speaking of those: The accessories launched last season are back, with two new handbag shapes and several cigarette-heeled shoe styles, too.
this collection exhibits the need for the pre-fall and resort seasons. while this presentation didn't present on cohesive vision for how women should dress today like we'd expect out of a traditional pret-a-porter collection, it found itself chocked full of ridiculously covetable clothes!! those slip dresses will cause a sensation, those coats are instant classics, and those pants remain channel katherine hepburn effortlessly. while i'm not as thrilled by the eveningwear shown here, he's already shown his prowess in that arena just a couple of months ago.
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everything is never quite enough.
Jason Wu obviously isn't appreciating below-knees skirts, seeing as most of his are way above, hitting the leg in exactly the same place, creating quite an uninspired and repetitive look when such plain clothes are presented like this.
He's never my taste, but his customer will love it.