Christopher Peters and Shane Gabier are in the novelty business. They said so themselves at an appointment today: Creatures of the Wind, the duo affirmed, is in the business of making "special" pieces, not staples. Their clientele looks to them for something a little oddball, a little eccentric. Of course, the challenge—when "quirk" is your thing—is to keep from going overboard. This collection displayed a lot of discipline in that regard. There were some showy designs—a long skirt checkerboarded with multicolored sequins; a bold, vaguely Italian Futurist jacquard; shirting in surreal prints designed by the artist Jonny Negron. The novelty-seeking Creatures client will be pleased with those items, and with quieter ones, like the sleeveless button-downs with face-shaped broderie anglaise. But the discipline was in the way Peters and Gabier gave even their loudest looks a very up-to-date sense of the offhand. The clothes could be splashy, but they never felt fussy. And there were also plenty of pieces here that could attract a more understated customer, like the pencil dress in raw silk and crinkly hyper-stretch linen, with its pleated half-peplum in front, or a micro-check suit comprised of a cropped jacket and boyish, high-waisted pants. Quirky? Sure. But only just.
