As Creatures of the Wind designers Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters themselves acknowledge, pre-collections like this one present something of a conundrum to labels like theirs: On the one hand, it’s in the nature of a pre-collection for the emphasis to be on durable staples; on the other hand, Creatures of the Wind is a brand that specializes in clothes that are the opposite of basic, full of quirk and zing and “novelty,” as they say in the biz. With this collection, Gabier and Peters did a fine job of squaring that circle. The looks here had quirk and zing and novelty aplenty, but they were plenty durable, too.
A grab bag of influences informed the collection; ’60s-era Japanese modernism and Renaissance painting were two that jumped out, while military apparel, natty menswear elements, and The Ice Storm–ish 1970s aesthetics all got a look-see, too. Gabier and Peters made a remarkable coherence out of all that, particularly in those looks that distilled some combination of these ideas into a single gesture. To wit, the dress in a cotton Prince of Wales check, with a scarf-like piece of fabric crossing the bodice to architectural effect, or the skirt in the same material embellished with daisy-shaped hardware designed in collaboration with Pamela Love. The standout was another in Prince of Wales—a top-notch trenchcoat with the surprise of crisscrossing straps. Novel; durable.
There were other highlights, though—the asymmetric white sundress with black brushstrokes; the khaki button-down with ecstatic, unbelievably fine embroidery mashing up Japanese woodcut and Renaissance-style aesthetics; the simple black jumpsuit punctuated by red grosgrain stripes. Amid all the ideas flowing, it took a while to realize the evolution this collection marked: This was easily Creatures of the Wind’s most fitted and sexiest offering. That was part of what gave these clothes their aura of accessibility—and made them perfectly suited to Pre-Fall.
