ERROR:
subscribe to style file blog via RSSComing Clean: Where Fatigues Meet Leotards
September 5, 2008 8:05 am
Liz McClean didn’t have to look too far for inspiration this season. The designer was engaged in some rather abstract contemplation about wanting her Spring 2009 collection to cross-pollinate the masculine and the feminine when it hit her: Liz McClean’s new look was Liz McClean’s old look, circa high school. Back then, she explains, she went scavenging for clothes in her parents’ Long Island basement. “It made for an interesting wardrobe because my dad had all his Army stuff from Vietnam down there, and then on the other hand, my mom’s old clothes were, like, seventies-style leotards and fabulous boho things. And then I’d sort of mish-mash the clothes together, cut them up, whatever.” McClean has channeled her youthful experiments into a collection she describes as “surprisingly commercial,” made up of pieces such as silk army jackets and fatigues, leotards made from hemp, and chiffon capelets. “I know it’s such a cliché to say, but I’m really feeling like it’s time for me to take my line to the next level,” says McClean, who will be showing in the Bumble and Bumble space later today. “I did a runway show a few years ago, but this time it feels real, like a real debut. And I know the clothes are wearable, because in a way, I’ve already worn them.”
tags: Liz McClean
