Difficult times call for drastic measures. That was the frame of mind in which Steven Cox and Daniel Silver approached their Fall collection for Duckie Brown. They're not the first designers this season to feel the chill wind of financial hardship. Cox was being typically mordant when he said, "This could be our last show." Yang to Cox's yin, Silver countered with his rationale for the show's title, Tomorrow: "A day that is full of hope and other possibilities."
The presentation placed the usual backstage mechanics up front. "A chance to be transparent," said Silver. "Let's open up the wall. We can watch you while you watch us." In the circumstances, it felt like a valuable reminder of the pell-mell work that goes into getting a collection out into the world, especially given that the clothes themselves had such serenity this time. Cox made a subtle but strong, almost philosophical statement about the maturing of Duckie Brown. He was reflecting on the beginnings of the label, when the Duckies were a little like the class clowns of New York menswear. "I was asking myself, 'Can a designer age in this industry of Kim Kardashian Instagrams?'" he mused. "I'm not the clown anymore. There are no polka dots, no beading, no embroidery, no high waists or low waists or drop crotches… wait, maybe just a little."
No, what was on show were pristine white shirts in China silk paired with pleated pants in a luxurious black Japanese polyester; silk cardigans wrapped rather than buttoned, and tucked into gray flannel pants; a Harrington in pink charmeuse with gray flannel pants; a dark, lustrous buffalo check in a wrapped cardigan and matching coat.
Maybe it was Cox being his endlessly provocative self when he said this collection reflected his respect for Stefano Pilati. He did, after all, insist that was why he'd grown a beard. But the languid poetry of the clothes did, in fact, share something with Pilati's own aesthetic. It is so rare, precious, and beautiful in New York that it demands support. Last show? No way.
