iiJin Spring 2016

 At first glance, iiJin’s spring 2016 collection looks like a collection that is based solely on good styling. Many of the looks—particularly the women’s garments—we’ve seen before. Cargo pants in an army tent color palette paired with crop top, leather shorts with an olive army jacket, or a bold floral print dropped crouch pant with matching crop top; all been done before.

So what is so special about iiJin’s spring 2016 collection if it’s only about really good styling? Well, maybe that is what’s special about this iiJin collection, and what’s wrong with a collection centered on good styling? After all, Karl Lagerfeld has made a whole career out of taking tried-and-true design ideas and styling those concepts through the lens of the Chanel aesthetic. So, why can’t iiJin do the same thing? Remember, no matter how good the design construction and inspiration for a collection is, if the styling is bad, the collection can come up flat or lackluster.

What also registers successfully about this outing is the fresh, slightly edgy feel of this collection. In other words, iiJin’s spring 2016 collection has youthful currency!! And the design duo of Cassian Lau and Christina Minasian have really captured the current youthful exuberance of street wear that is now a global movement and funneled that vibrancy through a prism of style, hipness with a certain amount of street cred.

Though the men’s looks in this collection will possibly have more retail viability than some of the women’s looks, the brand’s ladies’ separates will be appealing to a wide range of female consumers. Also, by injecting a bit of bling, evidenced in the sequin embellishments, Lau and Minasian added a slice of glamour and sparkle to the color that was a minus of bold color.

Standout looks in the collection was iiJin’s sequin army green jacket with floral top and floral shorts, black and white whicker printed jacket with black and white printed pants, black and white graphic bomber with grey sweatshirt with graphic, and green fringe jacket over red graphic tee with black shorts.

—William S. Gooch