Like many during the pandemic, Victor Barragán did a mental health check. There was plenty of introspection, and then came the talk of New Age medicine. All of these factors were brought together in the fall 2021 collection. (Barragán isn’t presenting his spring 2022 collection yet, and instead wants to test a see-now-buy-now approach.) Models stepped out with cupping makeup, and some were bound by belts as if they were in straitjackets.
Introspection is wonderful and all, but what makes Barragán great is that there is always a louche and saucy effect. It’s not about staying in or feeling trapped. There’s a smoldering appeal: Pieces are so low-slung that one should worry about their bikini line; there is always something unbuttoned; and there is always a peekaboo slit. The clothes are made for a heavy, endless night out.
A lot of those party-hard details came with a cool, lazy touch, most likely an influence from the pandemic. Pants were savagely low, so low that packages rudely popped out. (They were reminiscent of a dude throwing on his pants to run to the bodega just to return home again and do nothing.) Speaking of pants, while denim has been a red-hot seller for the brand, the corduroy pants were killer. A pair came slit at the knees with crisscross raver straps attached to the waist and sat super low. The scholastic fabric looked ready to rumble.
Other parts of the pandemic were visible, some more tasteful than others. A big, cushy gray sweater with a tapered bottom looked great with a pair of baggy light-wash jeans. That fared better than a pair of unbuttoned striped boxers with a matching top, which felt too tucked into bed and too focused on staying at home.
Barragán logo tees were funky—and kids will gravitate toward them. One orange tank top read Home Wrecker, while another, which was three shirts fused into one, read Dyke. Self-exploration is a deep thing, but leave it to Barragán to approach it playfully.
