If there was a men’s highlight to Friday of Fashion Week (next to Hamish Bowles’s duet with Cheyenne Jackson—with Anna Wintour looking on—at The Rug Company’s Fashion’s Night Out event), it was the Rag & Bone show. Everyone was in attendance, and on the edge of their seats.
The results were mixed. David Neville and Marcus Wainwright have moved past the punky downtown and more towards this year’s ubiquitous obsession: workwear. I’ve always seen Rag & Bone as the uniform for bartenders at speakeasies, but not longer—you might do a double take over your gimlet poured by a mixologist in a pair of Japanese denim overalls. That’s right, overalls! Raw indigo denim overalls, to be specific. And the salute to John Henry was just beginning: raw indigo denim chambrays, coats, dungarees, and a poncho followed.
Yet the stronger pieces had nothing to do with denim, like the black and white wool and silk herringbone engine jacket and matching trousers, and a red silk blazer.
Staying true to its simple and streamlined roots, Rag & Bone is moving forward in some surprising, and sometimes satisfying directions. If I’m not totally on board, I’ll be interested to see where this train is headed.
And while Rag & Bone got a little rough and tumble, Tim Hamilton Redux celebrated something closer to rough trade in a collection that was tough, grungy and at the same time soft and taciturn.
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