July 10, 2014 New York
By Noah Johnson
It's hard to imagine a person who wouldn't look right in
Rag & Bone. That's exactly the point designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville made with their all-in-one photo exhibition/lookbook/collection presentation. For the men's Spring 2015 outing, they recruited people of all shapes and sizes—a pro basketball player, a stand-up comedian, a guy who makes perfume, the proprietor of a local bar, men and women, old and young—and the whole cast did the clothes as much justice as any model could. "We made a lot of points about the versatility of the clothes and the individuality of Rag & Bone," said Wainwright. "How one piece of clothing can be worn many different ways by many different people."
Rag & Bone's men's line, now ten years old, isn't known for creating new challenges for a guy's wardrobe. The duo makes exceptionally easy-to-wear clothes with an emphasis on comfort, subtle detailing, and safe fits. This collection wasn't a departure by any means, but it did shine a new light on the brand's appeal.
Forgoing the preciousness of a cohesively themed collection, this was a loosely curated assemblage of nearly perfect individual pieces. Best in show was the outerwear—a fishtail parka in a high-tech sailcloth infused with fiberglass, a replica-quality bomber in onion quilted nylon, a moleskin overcoat that could have been from any one of your favorite Belgian designers. Denim—the category on which the house of Rag & Bone is built—was given a worn-in look; a longer rise; a darted and tapered leg; and a cropped, raw-finished hem. The effect wasn't merely an updated classic, it was a total re-engineering, and to telling effect. Tops were long and languid, mostly stripped of the extraneous details we've come to expect.
Wainwright and Neville didn't present a new vision for Rag & Bone here. They presented what felt like a reaction to fashion's adoration of conceptual design, and a compelling case for interesting clothing that people actually want to wear. "Some people look for fashion and they look for art and they look for things that are completely new, and I think that's fantastic," said Wainwright. "But at the end of the day, if you can't wear half of it, what's the point?"
