It was a last-minute affair for Interior designers Jack Miner and Lily Miesmer who, in the wee days before revealing their new collection, decided it would be best to stage their runway debut.
The designers have ascended the fashion ladder in the span of just four collections, and thought it was time to up the ante. A static presentation would not suffice.
They created a blackbox theater in an East Village performance art space and sent out a collection that — on par with previous outings — threw out most of the visual codes the brand had already established.
While previous Interior collections were rich in sequins, appliqués, embroideries and trims — displaying an abundance of ideas — Miner and Miesmer decided that for this season it would be best to do away with embellishments altogether.
For spring, the duo focused on raggedy edges, distressed chiffons and dip dyes evoking mud stains and spilled tea. A palette of mostly neutrals, ballet pink and black helped focus a wide span of fabrications ranging from Italian linen and stretch lace to fishing net crochet and shirred jersey.
While most of the collection appeared ladylike, a soundtrack of noise and punk music offered an edge — playing to the designers’ social circles that dabble in the downtown skater scene.
“This season is all about, in place of embellishment, delivering specialness through destruction. Eighty percent of the collection was destroyed or handled in some way,” Miesmer said backstage.
While the collection’s hand-destroyed treatments looked difficult to replicate for production, Miesmer contended, “Denim has a whole cottage industry of distressing, so people are set up to do this — we just gave them materials they don’t often work with. It’s the weirdest experience to take a Dremel to an Italian linen suit.”
Specialness is the word that Miner and Miesmer have established as their mission statement. They have found a groove in offering wardrobe staples — knits, suiting, blouses and polished dresses — with an “off-kilter” twist. The formula is working — they are now carried by most major U.S. retailers including Saks, Net-a-porter and Bergdorf Goodman.
Playing to their base — the suiting sets, asymmetric cotton blouses and sheer evening looks that Interior has found the most success with, remained this season, in slightly updated iterations.
“I think we really love finding ways to bring specialness in everything we make,” Miesmer said.
