For fall, Christopher Esber is in a moodier, darker place than usual. Picking up on his train of thought for pre-fall, he kept to a ’70s-leaning theme while exploring ideas of layering and coating that, for him, represent new territory.
The puffer jacket is a case in point. “I wanted to take a casual approach to dressing by drawing on furnishings, interiors, and the way we live from a tactile perspective,” the designer explained. Hence the cropped puffer in bone white cashmere bouclé, with clean lines, a subtle bell shape, and a Chesterfield-style button in back. There’s also a silk maxi-length puffer lined with a paisley print, a motif the designer recreated from memories of a wallpaper in his childhood home, a timber house decorated in shades of brown and lipstick reds. The idea of wood paneling and veneers also cropped up on leather, for example on an oversized shirt/jacket hybrid. Elsewhere, crocheted details, such as a wide waist on a poplin dress, or a bralette embellishment on a shirt in Japanese washed cotton, nodded to his youth as well.
Esber’s base is partial to peek-a-boo details, and here, he worked the crochet idea into midriff embellishments and metal belts. In a relaxed take on dressing up, a fine cotton-wool knit layered over a sheer backless dress lets the wearer decide on how the shoulder straps should be worn, over the shoulders like a tank, or crossed, like a halter. Another comfortable option might be the knit ensemble the designer noted he wouldn’t mind wearing himself: an ample brown V-neck paired with a long, ruched skirt. “It’s all about ease of eveningwear,” he offered. “It’s not over-thought.” That said, having put a lot of thought into sustainability, this new collection features slides made of salmon skin.
Fusing slinky and cozy is no easy task, but with this collection Esber is showing a new maturity. He’s also offering a sneak peek at his first foray into jewelry: there’s a gold-finish and Swarovski crystal gas pipe choker, bracelet trios, an arm cuff to wear over tailoring, and a clever “Divorcé” necklace with asymmetrically placed bars for resting rings that also may be unstrung and worn on their own. The designer describes the aesthetic as “chunky brutalist.” We’ll be watching where he goes with that.
