"Black Gold Subversion League," read the pseudo-collegiate patches on many of Andreas Melbostad’s safety-pinned, chained, and studded pieces of outerwear. Pshaw: To advertise subversion as a selling point is a crass act any vaguely sensitive anarchist would baulk at. This blunt scrawl aside, Melbostad presented plenty of well-drawn if perhaps ersatz merch best described as preppy-punk—think Johnny Rotten at a job interview.
So a perfectly pleasant above-the-knee slim gray overcoat was blistered with chains, pins, and all that old whatnot, then worn over what looked like a slim-fit gray tailored jacket and white shirt, and washed out tartan pants with four silver zipped pockets. A studded biker was rendered in check tweed while a parka came in houndstooth. A rower’s blazer—one of the jock-est of all garments in the canon of attire this collection fumbled with—fought with a quilted leather gilet and distressed jeans. Over-styled to press the trad vs. bad proposition, this collection featured plenty to speak to that constituency of consumers who wear Ramones T-shirts without ever listening to the Ramones. Melbostad is a very talented designer, as his former residency at Phi proved, and he made a strong, positive start at Diesel a couple of seasons back, but now is the time to really define his personal voice at the label.
