Mutiny! That’s a concept on a lot of women’s minds right now, as they find their values and their priorities under governmental siege. Karen Walker has caught the bug, too, conjuring—for her latest collection—a gang of lady pirates spoiling for a fight. With a tip of the hat to the original girl punk, Vivienne Westwood, and her antiauthoritarian buccaneers, Walker put an unexpected spin on her militant vibe, trading in the typical hard edges of utilitarian garb for blouson shapes with an unapologetically feminine tone. The switch-up felt just right.
The utilitarianism of this collection was communicated through its fabrics, with the emphasis on humble textiles such as drill, cotton, and raw denim. But Walker worked these materials into soft, voluminous silhouettes, patterning poufs into trousers and sleeves, and creating a sense of spontaneity by means of cinching and wrapping. Dangling straps and selvedge denim fringe echoed that improvisational feeling. These clothes seemed in process, in a state of becoming to be completed by the women destined to wear them. There was something empowering about that, as though Walker were expressing the principle of mutiny through the design of her clothes. These are the means, her cinches and loosely tied-off belts seemed to say. They’re yours to seize.
