New York Fashion Week is just kicking off, and our pal Gretchen Jones (who I'm sure you'll recall left Portland for the Big Apple after winning Project Runway not so long ago) was one of the first out of the gates. She's always hit bohemian notes in her collections, and this one has a heavily Southwestern theme—risky business, in my opinion, but in designing her own digital textiles, Jones was able to retain full control of the mood, which was cut with darker elements. In fact, this collection was greatly influenced by the passing of Jones' father just after her collection for last season debuted, and both his Apache heritage and themes of transitioning between life and death are palpable in the clothing, which was also informed by Nico's Desertshore, Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, and Poe's The Raven. Texture was as important as print in the materials here, and the pieces in latticed wool in burnt orange and white are by far my favorites, as in the pantsuit shown below. Her installation presentation, with the models posed around sand and stones is characteristically dramatic, but I hope there's a follow-up photo shoot in the works, since photos from yesterday are frustratingly shadowy, but check out some more of the better ones over on MOD.

IMG_0670.jpg
  • Ariel Clay