By dedicating himself exclusively to knitwear, the French-born, New York–based designer Pierrot starts out with some pretty serious limits to his medium. After all, how many ways are there to work a knitting needle or a crochet hook? Fortunately for his audience, Pierrot is a showman as well as a craftsman, and he makes every stitch tell a story.
This season, he sent out a collection that referenced (in roughly chronological order) German Expressionism, Russian Constructivism, Mondrian, Pop and Op art, and Japanese pop culture. There were cardigans in soft colors paired with crocheted skirts; witty, bold wrap dresses and red sweaters with “Pierrot” spelled out in faux-cyrillic script; off-the-shoulder tops decorated with Warholian bananas; and pretty, poppy-scattered twinsets in vivid blue, all shown on models who gleefully vamped and jived for the audience. (Designer Benjamin Cho and transgender personality Amanda Lepore made guest appearances.)
In addition to the artsy showcase pieces, the designer turned out simple, pretty cable sweaters and skirts, turtlenecks, and sweater coats. In fact, with the addition of menswear to his label, Pierrot will now be hard-pressed to find a customer he can’t put in a knit.
