Go deep, not wide is one of the principles that’s informing the new Rag & Bone. It’s a brand fundamental that Marcus Wainwright was putting into place pre-pandemic, but the ways in which lockdowns have changed how and why we shop—mostly online and mostly for comfort wear—have only made it more relevant.
The new R&B look book drives the point home. A blanket poncho, one of the season’s essential silhouettes, is shown in black, camel, burgundy, and gray, while rain boots, another trending item, are offered in yellow, orange, and army green. Presumably the feet out of frame are shod in another boldly colored pair. Prints, meanwhile, are shared across categories and genders; a dainty floral shows up on the wrap dress that is the collection’s fanciest piece and on the sweatpants that qualify as the chillest. On a Zoom call Wainwright wore a hoodie in a noteworthy shade of bright pink; he said he had a dusty rose version at home.
Wainwright quoted his grandfather. “He used to say, ‘Any fool can be uncomfortable.’ ” For years Wainwright did the runway thing, designing bigger and bigger collections that looked less and less like his lived reality. He’s now very happy to make clothes for the world he sees around him. It won’t always be leggings and sweatpants, but it will be without fashionable artifice. Therein lies another new R&B principle.
