January 22, 2009
Adam Kimmel's wide-ranging quest for inspiration from the art world has embraced the style of many significant personalities and movements, but one obvious seam of inspiration remained untapped until gallerist Tony Shafrazi introduced the designer to Gerard Malanga. It was Malanga who filmed all those fabulous "screen tests" at Warhol's Factory, and he brought the 16mm camera out of retirement to shoot some new footage, this time of the artists he was photographing for Kimmel's latest lookbook. Then the designer launched the whole visual and sartorial package at Thaddaeus Ropac's gallery in Paris.
Kimmel's effort to, as he puts it, "incorporate his heroes into his work" could become a deadening academic exercise (there are plenty of examples of such things happening), but his continuing evolution as a designer makes that less and less likely. Here, for instance, an unstructured cashmere blazer had a sophisticated softness that suggested Kimmel is mastering real luxury in his clothes. Who would ever have imagined that back in the day when he was making honest-Joe jumpsuits? Likewise the three-piece striped suit, which looked like it should be in cotton but felt like it could only be in cashmere. That's the kind of illusion Kimmel is partial to: looks rough, feels rich.
With retrenchment in mind, he smartly multipurposed his new collection. Coats and jackets were not only reversible but featured linings that buttoned out to become separate garments. Beyond that kind of ingenuity, there were plenty of reasons to welcome this American to Paris. The three-piece herringbone suit with the matching topcoat? Well, there are four reasons right there. Nice patriot-pop touch: the stars-and-stripes motifs. At this particular moment in history, Warhol would surely have been doing something similar.
— Tim Blanks
