Ann-Sofie Back has a disarming sense of humor. Ask her why she got into fashion, and she’ll lob back, “Because my parents dressed so poorly!”
To this day, the designer tends to circle back to ideas she considers not quite finished or organically open-ended. For that reason, her Fall collection was partially inspired by her homeland of Sweden, right down to the saturated turquoise and yellow separates that nodded to the national flag. But Back is neither literal nor sugarcoated. “Sweden has changed a lot between the time I left for London and the time I returned,” noted the designer, who is now based in Stockholm. “I used to think my country was onto something, but now we have the same problems as everyone else.” While hardly on the barricades, Back likes to react. She called this collection “Swedish Sin,” which she noted was not so much a reference to Swedish ’70s porn, but more about “a certain smugness.”
Cue lots of childhood references, notably a shirred disco number in silver lamé. “It’s not as scary to wear as you might think,” the designer said of the single-strapped jumpsuit with ribbed cuffs and an asymmetric sweater underneath. Lowered, elongated hoodies and dropped collars were among the collection’s hallmarks. Further along, a sweatsuit with ribbed cuffs and “ass hoodie” trousers made a case for edgy bottom-camouflaging. A style piece, a silver-tiled bra with just one triangle, owed a debt to porn, but looked sporty when worn with an asymmetric sweater (in a chunky ivory or burgundy knit). Elsewhere, practicality ruled: One parka will appeal to both women and men, while multipocket camouflage trousers yielded a déjà vu moment thanks to foot stirrups.
Back loves a party, but she is just as much about practicality, as a military-style dress coat suggested. Sheer bodysuits could be worn classically, inside trousers or over. Metallic-tinged lace clocked the seasonal trend. But it was “the silver monster,” a side-shirred, turtleneck lamé statement dress, that will probably claim significant editorial space. Fortunately, it could also work in real life.
