Kiko Kostadinov’s fifth collection—called Obscured by Clouds—featured some firsts: a debut womenswear capsule (“totally different than the men’s,” said the designer) and a debut handbag (a knitted pouch covered in stud beads that was a high point in the show). Beyond these things, he will also present his first runway collection for Mackintosh, the British heritage label at which he is creative director, in Paris in a fortnight’s time.
Bulgarian-born Kostadinov’s references were particularly nuanced for Fall: A West German magazine called Twen, which was published from 1959 to 1971, Barbet Schroeder films, and Yves Klein’s The Foundations of Judo all served as inspirations in one way or another. Perhaps recognizing the breadth of his wellsprings, valid though they may be, the designer admitted that what the season really boiled down to was “looking to escape from reality, and going back to having hobbies.”
His particular hobby is a passion for research, possibly instilled in him by the grueling demands of Central Saint Martins’s master’s program, from which he matriculated in 2016. There’s a sense of thoroughness in Kostadinov’s work—you get the sense that he doesn’t just do things for the sake of the effect, but because of either the information that justified the decision or the technical challenge of implementing it. This was seen most clearly with trousers on the menswear side, which were actually an evolution of a shape he designed for his graduate collection: Triple darted and broken in, they looked not quite skater but not quite slick, either. Slouch by architecture isn’t easy to do. When examined closely, some of these pants had bell-bottom-like flares, but with visibly cut pleats at the ankle.
His women’s edit was earthen (especially with juniper and baby’s breath headpieces fashioned by Katsuya Kamo) and simple on the surface, toggling “sportswear and mid-century dressmaking techniques.” It wasn’t as convincing as the men’s, but it was a solid first go. For the guys, which departed from the surgical austerity of last season, other points of interest included raggedy jumpers (some with inlaid forms taken from Bulgarian pottery) that reminded this writer of the famous sweaters worn in the original The Matrix film, and pants with forcibly graphic velcro belt closures. A collaboration with the sportswear giant Asics continued, with footwear, tees, and more. As for those above-mentioned knit bags, worn by both genders, they were very appealing in a simultaneous stoner-y and rave-y sort of way. Kostadinov mentioned that his business has basically doubled since last season, after first premiering in the U.S. at Dover Street Market. We wouldn’t be surprised to hear of more growth after this round, too.
