Come September, Phillip Lim will be marking his official return to New York Fashion Week. Before showing (after a three-year hiatus), the designer wanted to offer a palette cleanse with the resort season.
“It’s about the gallerist’s uniform. I was thinking, ‘If we’re going to set up for September, what is that foundation?’ For us, it’s always been utilitarian staples — like the khakis and denim and poplin — starting with that. You think about gallerists too: they have a uniform, but it’s very artful, enigmatic and there’s always a subversion to it.”
Lim’s uniform started with a continuation of his prior collections’ cool-girl, utility denim, which came in fresh khaki (and classic blue) hues while peppering in sharp utility tailoring. For instance, look one’s oversize trucker jacket atop a recontextualized cropped men’s poplin shirt and hybrid wrap skirt, or his trompe l’oeil jacket with double sculptural collars atop a slinky rib-knit dress (both styled with sleek new crescent heeled footwear and ID bags with heavy brass hardware inspired by Lim’s ID bracelets and Anish Kapoor sculptures).
“Chic and cozy, sporty and utilitarian,” he said, nailing the downtown, sleek but easy vibe with a Kelly green suit. “It’s almost, like, ‘Who’s that girl?’”
Lim continued the idea of slightly subverting classics throughout the lineup, as in button-off sailor knits, poplin shirting with striped organza overlays, convertible jackets and tailoring cut into dresses and trenchcoats with a soft pajama-esque vibe. There was also an extension of his multiseason tribute to New York with hybrid slip dressing and feminine sets boasting appliqué bodega florals.
Lim noted that the collection was partially inspired by his recent immersive art and fashion gallery experience, “A New York City Vibration,” during February’s New York Fashion Week.
“Art has always been a part of the brand; I’ve been hanging out with one of my best friends, BJ Topol, who’s a gallerist turned art dealer. She’s a huge ambassador of the brand and brought me into the art world; our relationship has been 14 years — since I came to New York, and it culminated to this point. When you think about gallery girls, there’s a studied cool; they’re in the know of the cultural zeitgeist and the guardians of art, but they’re also quite classic too. To me, it really fits the brand’s aesthetic, that uniform.”
