It could be argued that every designer is searching for their own idea of beauty, no matter how conventional or extreme. Jason Wu named his latest collection just that, Beauty, letting us fill in the rest. A pretty easy task for a pretty and easy collection that made it even clearer, if such thing was even necessary at this point in his career, that Wu’s The One to pick up the mantle from The Elders of American Fashion. This morning’s announcement that the designer has sold a majority stake to the recently established investment firm InterLuxe promises a lot – accessories, a flagship store, and more. And here was one he made earlier – the Diane bag created with Wu’s friend and muse Diane Kruger.
Sticking closely to a palette of navy blue, limestone and army green – or ‘basil’ as the show notes specified – and one washed camo print, Wu showed American Sportswear with no twists and tricks and that was the beauty of it. His skirts were just sexy enough, the trousers fluid enough and his take on the classic tee, cutting it in navy or green soft suede was clever enough. The collection felt both timeless and youthful and isn’t that quite the feat to pull off? A denim-looking wrap dress was actually silk tweed and the lavishly embellished skirts that led us into eveningwear were paired with scuba tops zipped all the way up. The amber and apple green dresses that opened the last part of the show may have been be-sequinned to their last breath but they were cut on the bias sliding off the girls’ bodies. And then Karlie prowled the runway in a simple navy silk wrap dress and the show was over.
Easy, breezy, Jason Wu.
