You build a house, and then you live in it. Susana Clayton has taken the past year and a half to build Joseph to be the brand she wanted, smoothing out some of its hard lines and adding a luscious warmth to its always-minimal aesthetic. For fall 2020 she took a step back from building—she has already upped sales for Joseph a reported 300%—and did some living. With this collection, she affirmed her silhouettes, her colors, and her codes.
Her biggest contribution to the Joseph maison is a slight A-line, midi silhouette that carries across categories. In the look book, Clayton often styles it tripartite: a roomy blazer, a pleated skirt, and pooling-hem trousers. The look would seem fussy, but Clayton reports that women in her office have taken to styling their pieces that way. Separated, these are the wardrobe workhorses that women will rely on season after season, and she introduces them in a wide range of hues, textures, and an abstracted argyle print. Clayton has also explored color this season, building out a diaspora of rich beige, caramel, honey, and lilac-hewing gray—rich tones that belie a playful irreverence. Hers is a happy home at Joseph.
