When you think of painter Georgia O’Keefe and her resident state of New Mexico, London fashion does not necessarily come to mind. Yet, designer Eudon Choi somehow made this connection completely logical with a pretty, sophisticated Spring/Summer 2015 collection that juxtaposes masculine and feminine touches in an interesting way.
O’Keefe, born in Wisconsin but who eventually came to spend most of her life in New Mexico, was well known for her evocative, ultra-feminine paintings of the floral and fauna of the Southwestern state. In spite of her painting style, O’Keefe, like many artists, was a person of contrast and dressed in an androgynous, even masculine fashion, wearing billowy cotton tops and flowy trousers everywhere with little or no makeup.
The strength of Eudon Choi’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection lies in his mastery of the interplay between the masculine and feminine. His first look, a structured but loose masculine black jacket paired with a billowy long skirt that avoided being frumpy through well-cut lines and attention to proportion. Indeed, beginning with his black looks and moving to beautiful shirtdresses, long vests, and cute but not kitschy long bloomers in black and spring-appropriate blues, pinks, and neutrals with unexpected details, like an asymmetric off-the-shoulder slim neckline and a flirty ruffles that popped up in unexpected places.
Moving through the show, Choi’s collection also makes use of soft yellow and pink jacquards in some deconstructed masculine looks with feminine touches, like tailored trousers with a long vest with ruffled detail and trouser suits that look cool rather than overdramatic in a figure-flattering but tailored longer length. The collection loses a little of its cohesion and hip feel when it moves too literally into prairie-inspired looks in white and pin-stripe with ruffles. In spite of this, the show ended well, with several beautiful coats and drapey dresses that made frontier style look chic and sophisticated, all with Choi’s signature tailoring and touches of quiet drama.
But, on the whole, Eudon Choi’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection, his first presentation on the main tents at Somerset House, felt like an important occasion, and most certainly kept him on our list of designers to watch.
Images courtesy of Style.com