IT DOESN’T gets more New York cool than Proenza Schouler. A brand synonymous for becoming the epitome of what it means to be both as fashionable as they are in Paris but with the attitude of an East Coast American – a blend that has served them well for two decades. Now, for autumn-winter 2023 the brand find a moment to showcase what they describe as their ‘possibly our most personal collection’.
Designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez set out to create an array of pieces rather than a themed collection, taking a look at the fashion environment we are living in and began by designing individual pieces that would penetrate through the noise of style cycles. Personally describing it as “clothing we find compelling and essential right now, a complete wardrobe”, the pair stripped the idea of fleeting, focused on seasonal and brought us something very permanent.
Comprised of 40 looks, the overall understanding of female dressing next autumn-winter is about the woman herself, pushing the woman to look deeper within and push that forward.
Smart shirts with exaggerated pointed collars are worn open under structured blazers that are tried together with leather ropes presented a more grown-up side to the Proenza woman, with wrap ankle touching skirts arriving in thick wool and leather to add a subtle contrast to the look. Long bandeau dresses were chic and very woman-about-town, offering shearling lapels to jackets and slashed dresses that played with the idea of just adding to the classics rather than reinventing is actually the best idea out there.
Leading the pack of models was none other than NYC ‘it’ girl Chloë Sevigny, who also voiced the soundtrack written by novelist Ottessa Moshfegh, titled February 11th 2023. Composing a series of fictional journal entries that explore what’s going on in the head of a modern woman, like what are the thoughts that take priority during her day, and the balance of the joys, such as family and friends, and the inevitable lows.
Mixing Moshfegh’s words on top of Arca’s purposeful musical arrangement to highlight representation and identities, there was an aura beyond the collection that filled the Chelsea Factory with a sense of feminine community.
After twenty years, a lot has changed for McCollough and Hernandez, they have grown up and so has the Proenza Schouler woman. Just like they have evolved, so have their ever-supportive group of New Yorkers with them, finding both comfort and confident in their creations.
This season was no different, the front row was the same, the designers ability to give their clients what they want was very much there but most notably, the desire to longevity was evident, this is not a seasonal love but a lifelong relationship between both sides of the runway. And after all, what’s more New York than loyalty?
by Imogen ClarkÂ