The news at the Rag & Bone showroom today was the denim hanging from the Pre-Fall racks. Yep, that’s right, Marcus Wainwright and David Neville, Brits who established their name with American-made jeans, have never put denim in their signature collection before, and they might not have if it hadn’t been for customer feedback. “They were asking for it,” Wainwright said. Pre-Fall, more so than their runway seasons, is dedicated to R&B’s core product, so alongside the tailoring and the athleisure-y sportswear pieces they’re dependable for, there were elasticated, off-the-shoulder tops and cropped trousers in indigo denim lightweight enough to wear when this collection ships around May.
Seasonality was a key talking point for Wainwright and Neville. Mother Nature can throws curveballs, like 65-degree mid-December days, but by and large shearling is a superfluity come early summer, and you won’t find it in these lookbook pictures despite its prevalence in other labels’ lineups. Rather, there were baseball-jersey dresses and sleeveless shifts and a silk slip with thin cords for straps. On the sportier side: bra tops and button-front shorts. Nothing to get too worked up about. The gems in this low-key collection were the elevated yet offhanded denim separates; they looked like an idea whose time had come.
