New York Fashion Week: Skingraft gets mystical, moody and light(er)
Skingraft worked some serious mojo with the spring and summer 2015 collection it sent down the runway at the Lincoln Center tents here on Tuesday during New York Fashion Week.
The Inspiration: “Santeria and Mexican prayer altars,” said designer Jonny Cota in the show notes, “focus[ing] on the elements of blood, smoke earth and bone.”
The Look: The inspiration may sound dark, but much of the collection that came down the catwalk was light -- at least fabric-wise. There were silk trapeze dresses with swirling gray smoke prints, sheer mesh jackets and tops with embroidered tone-on-tone floral designs and a series of pieces with graphics that resembled veins and blood vessels. A collaboration with New York City based “blood artist” Jordan Eagles (who knew that was a genre?). The most arresting of these graphics were in a palette of blood red and black which, from afar, reminded us of embers of a dying fire.
There were plenty of the brand’s signature luxe leather pieces in the lineup too, including hoodies, motocross-inspired jackets and trousers with leather padding detail, pieces with padded leather shoulder detail, and mirror legging insets.
Key pieces: While Skingraft certainly isn’t the first label to use swirling smoke on diaphanous dresses, shirts and trousers, the placement here created an ombre effect that added an extra touch.
The Scene: The lineup of front-row famous folk hardly gets more eclectic than Perez Hilton, Whoopi Goldberg, Stacy London, Ally Hilfiger, Skrillex, Phillip Bloch, Will.i.Am and 2 Chainz sitting cheek by jowl in the Lincoln Center tents.
Verdict: It’s nice to see Jonny Cota and crew grafting the brand’s mystical, magical DNA onto a wider range of fabrics. Skingraft may have lightened up a bit for next season but it hasn’t let up in the effort department one iota.
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