Sportswear for Sophisticated Ski Bums at Calvin Klein
New York - By the time spring rolls around, even the most elegant and luxurious cold weather clothes can’t compete with that overwhelming desire to strip down and shed all those layers.
But for fall, the reverse is the case, and at any first sign of a crispness in the air there’s nothing more satisfying than being enveloped in a safe, cocoon-like bundle of an oversized sweater, or redefining summer’s skivvy silhouette with a piece of clothing more pronounced and structurally-driven. At Calvin Klein, a brand that has perfected both the absence and presence of form, the change of seasons from Spring/Summer ‘08 to Pre-Fall is indicated by both a piling on and a stripping away. The collection, shown in New York on Tuesday, Jan.8, both revels in the luxuriousness of wearing mountains of fabric as well as the simplicity of a well-manicured, perfect line of a ski slope. In other words, take your pick: Body out of sight, or body skin-tight.
“It’s very lifestyle driven - easy separates and sportswear,” said Francisco Costa, designer for the Calvin Klein Collection. “Simple and straightforward.”
Costa designed a variety of shapes for this particular collection, inspired by luxury ski resorts like Aspen, as if to acknowledge the transitional nature of Pre-Fall. So there are skinny ski pants and form-fitting jersey knit dresses for those not ready to cover up their summer figures, but on the flip-side, pleated, high-waisted full trousers, cashmere wraps, tartan capes, maxi-length skirts and dresses, chunky, boxy knit sweaters and rounded, sculptural shoulders composed of a single seam all redefine the body’s shape, or obscure it entirely.
Both silhouettes are designed around movement and comfort, and the usual Calvin Klein palette of neutrals - stone, ivory, black, charcoal and earthy browns - give the pieces mix-and-match flexibility that one would expect from a strong American sportswear collection. Citric acid brights punctuated the mood like an Olympic skier whizzing by.
Costa is hard at work putting the finishing touches on the label’s Fall collection, which will be shown in February for New York fashion week, which Costa said will be “very tailored, but also sporty.”