Since arriving at Calvin Klein, Raf Simons has put the label’s stamp, 205W39NYC, on various bits of Americana. Now, what he’s done for quilts, cowboy boots, and band uniforms, he’s about to do for Yale and Berkeley. The universities’ logos turned up on modified sweatshirts and oversize varsity jackets, as well as on leather handbags, and their crests were embroidered on the breast pockets of collegiate stripe blazers. The school choices would appear to be arbitrary, except for the fact of the synergy between Calvin and the University of California, which was shortened to “Cal” on a hand-knit sweater (one of many in a strong offering) that also featured the Berkeley Bear.
Cobranding of this sort has become a mini-phenomenon—see Gucci’s Major League Baseball arrangement—but it is a bit lost on this reviewer. More compelling were Simons’s other explorations around American youth culture. Tie-dye tank tops and jeans and outerwear made from reproductions of old-fashioned sleeping bags had a hand-crafted appeal, as did the denim, which incorporated different washes, as well as the reflective safety stripes of Fall’s fireman coats.
Side by side with these earthier, almost DIY elements were couture-like silhouettes. Long satin skirts with bubble-like waists were paired with the tie-dye tanks in a way that will look familiar to longtime Simons watchers (a certain Jil Sander collection seared into all of our brains). He’s also elongated the turtlenecks that have been integral to his work at Calvin into graceful, to-the-ankle evening dresses in brightly colored virgin wool.
On the accessories front, Simons has morphed baseballs and footballs and basketballs into heels and totes. If compelled to choose a league I’d go with the NBA. But a vampy black pump traced with snaps and sold with adjustable straps said 205W39NYC better than any of those sports references.
