BEAUTY: Clothing--Thom Browne

One of the many changes the pandemic has brought to the world is the upheaval in the fashion world (I know, I know, compared to the death and destruction it has wrought, it seems trivial, but it effects thousands of jobs and livelihoods as well.). After two years of digital shows and video lookbooks, many houses realized they no longer need to adhere to a fashion "schedule," or show during a prescribed fashion "week." And many designers also realized that instead of driving themselves to the brink by having to create sometimes up to eight or more collections per year (along with accessories and beauty products), they would do only one or two big shows a year...on their own schedule, whenever the hell they feel like it. Better for mental health and better in terms of sustainability (something many designers and houses are now very aware of).

So a few days ago, untethered from any schedule, Thom Browne showed his Fall-Winter '22-'23 collection for men and women in New York. And what a wild show it was. Thom Browne's shows are always a performance art adventure, and this was no exception. Presented as a TED(dy) Talk, a model came out in a hybrid Thom Browne-suit/Teddy Bear costume (the furry paw-gloves and platform boots are adorable) and held forth to an audience of Thom Browne Teddy Bears in the center of the space while models presented the looks. It became quickly clear that the theme of the show was toys and Teddy Bears which was reinforced later in the show.

Each outfit came in a pair: the first half of the show featured a "normal," realistic version of a Thom Browne creation, and once all those looks had cycled through, the second half featured a wild, deconstructed, blown-up, hallucinatory version of its partner. Where models in the first half wore traditional skirts and trousers and jackets in Thom Browne wool with details of repp tie striping (a staple of a traditional men's wardrobe, and we have seen that Browne loves nothing more than to play with and distort tradition while using the traditional tailoring vernacular) along with some pretty fabulous wedge platforms (for women and men!), the second half looks were toy versions (a tennis sweater from the first part became an enormous tennis ball in the second!), some looking like stuffed animals and carrying bags made from toys, with the same platform shoes but this time made out of children's alphabet blocks that spelled out THOM BROWNE. Amazing.

This doppelgänger idea reminds me of Browne's spooky 1920's Fall-Winter '16-'17double-look show here, as well as his Fall-Winter '17-'18 show of triple looks, here, shows whose themes were just as incredibly compelling and creative.

Take a look at the video and listen to the hilarious, Disney-park-like, "march of the toys" soundtrack. And watch through parts one and two to see each look together in the finale...they make perfect, beautiful sense when seen together! (Bonus points if you can spot David Harbor in the front row next to Maisie Williams!)

https://www.thombrowne.com/