Rag & Bone Fall collections, presented on the runway in New York, tend to play up the sartorial aspect of the young brand's heritage. The Spring collection, shown in their ever-expanding offices, favors sport. If whiplash is the occasional result for the editors, it's hard to imagine that David Neville and Marcus Wainwright need to worry too much about that. Their empire is on the expansion path, and they've earned the right to do just as they please.
"We wanted to twist the familiar," Wainwright said. So they did. Working with a new stylist, Jay Massacret, they shot this new collection on skaters in a skate park not far from their Meatpacking District digs. The clothes themselves had a motocross, rather than skateboarding, bent. Nylon cycling pants came in flashy primary-color blocks and, for more wearable effect, in black and navy. Wainwright pointed out that the latter, which looked more modern, actually harked back to the styles of an earlier day. So did the wide-leg shorts based on those the British Army issued to soldiers during World War II. Nylon parkas and a digitized map print (also knit into intarsias) picked up the military theme. Though military and motocross meet in the desert, by this point the designers might've taken a twist too many. The mash-up of influences and inspirations left assembled looks a little light on what we've come to think of as classic Rag & Bone.
Still, there's Fall for that, and whatever new twist that brings. Will it be back to English tailoring? Consider only this: Last week, the ribbon was cut on the label's first London store, their biggest yet. Wainwright and Neville hopped a plane to check it out and will be back to toast it with a bash for London's women's fashion week. Then again, an L.A. shop's in the works as well.
