“We aren’t trying to please everyone anymore,” Kristopher Brock reported on a Zoom from California. For all the challenges designers have faced this year, a silver lining was the extra time and space to refocus on what they do best—and what their customer really wants.
The energy Brock and Laura Vassar might’ve expended on a runway show in the past—and on looks that felt “worthy” of that stage—is now reserved for communicating with their clients and retail partners about what works. If that sounds unromantic on paper, know that the Brock woman is still here for major romance; the bustier dresses, antique florals, and puffed-up sleeves aren’t disappearing. There was just a new sense of casualness about them for pre-fall, plus a touch of the American prairie, an era when women relied on feminine yet hardworking clothes. The floral dresses here were long and lean, and Vassar noted that they’ve expanded their ultra-special knits, from a crystal-embroidered cardigan to an intricately knitted maxiskirt with a matching crop top. She also pointed out how a brocade gown was spliced with cotton voile sleeves, a subtle texture play that made it feel just a little less fancy.
The emphasis on comfort and softness wasn’t explicitly “because of the pandemic.” As Vassar put it, their design process didn’t involve asking themselves what women might want to wear in six months, but rather “what they won’t be able to live without.” For some, that might be a gown, but for many of us, our have-to-have pieces are the ones we can wear all the time, not just on special occasions. A brocade floral coat might qualify for the woman who relies on jeans and statement outerwear; another might get butterflies for the raw-edged cotton midi-dress—ideal for 90-degree days, but more interesting than your average sundress—while a hand-painted leather jacket is an heirloom in the making.
Brock and Vassar tapped their friend Camille Rowe to model the clothes in the look book, bare-faced and often with her hair knotted under a bandana. The effect was more personal, like she’d actually styled herself. Runway shows may resume next year, but the Brocks (and their peers) should hold onto that sentiment.
