It can be easy to forget that Marcus Wainwright and David Neville are British designers. Their business, Rag & Bone, was born here in New York, and was built upon all-American denim. This year, they acted as Fashion Fund judges, following in the footsteps of Proenza Schouler.
Inspired by Nigel Shafran's 1990s photographs of English council-estate kids, their smart new Pre-Fall collection is a reminder of their UK roots, even if they did shoot their lookbook at an Upper East Side YMCA. (Fans of The Royal Tenenbaums might recognize it.) Like Shafran's pictures, R&B's clothes this season are graphic black-and-white, with athletic elements modeled after the shell suits the teenagers wear in the photographs. Wainwright and Neville's versions are elevated with touches of leather and mesh, and the fit has been tweaked for today. The key looks include a boxy baseball shirtdress worn over a crisp button-down, a black shorts suit with sporty insets on the shorts, and a knit tracksuit in white with black stripes that they teamed with an oversize tee. Also worth a callout: peep-toe leather slingbacks with contrast laces. The designers said the collection's delicate openwork lace dress was modeled after girls they remember from college in Newcastle. It added a feminine lilt to the lineup, but it didn't have the sharp pull of the other pieces.
