NEW YORK — Seven years after it was discontinued with the ouster of Raf Simons, Calvin Klein’s high-end “Assortment” line returned to the catwalk on Friday beneath the stewardship of Veronica Leoni.
Her hotly anticipated debut for the American mega-label unfolded on the 205 West thirty ninth Road workplace the place Calvin himself — within the viewers together with model icons Christy Turlington and Kate Moss — used to point out again within the day. Certainly, every part concerning the present, from the spare set to the bare-faced American beauties on the catwalk, aimed to reconnect the label to what Calvin did.
“My intention was to erase every part that has been achieved after he left, and restart prefer it was the primary day,” mentioned Leoni backstage, insisting that the method wasn’t nostalgic however “about trying ahead” — in different phrases selecting up the place Calvin left off.
The end result was an assured outing that expressed a wider breadth of prospects and elegance declinations for a model that may simply be pigeon-holed right into a minimalist components. Leoni’s expertise is the power to cost the language of discount — during which she is properly versed, having labored with minimalist masters comparable to Jil Sander and Phoebe Philo — with a sensuality that’s completely attuned to the Calvin ethos.
“What I’m good at is making garments, and that’s what we centered on,” mentioned Leoni, matter-of-factly. And the faultless drape of the tailoring, the circulate of the attire and the pajama-like slouch of the better items have been actually testomony to that.
Reality be advised: among the many slinky slip attire and killer skirt fits (trying recent for the primary time since Working Lady), a touch of Yohji-inflected “vogue nun” crept into the affair. However that’s comprehensible, given Leoni’s position in fine-tuning The Row with the Olsens.
The gathering’s American vibe — seen within the straightforwardness of the checked shirt and denims ensembles and her give attention to characters like the faculty scholar and the bombshell — was new to her work. And if a little bit of nostalgia was inescapable, Leoni’s standpoint felt clear. Onwards.
