Libertine Fall 2014

Johnson Hartig of Libertine has used his great creative prowess for good and created a 2014 fall  collection worthy of the alumnae of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Imagine Hermione of the Harry Potter series all grown up and looking like Emma Watson on the red carpet.  Hartig created a series of simple but stunning black dresses and coats sparkling with whimsical stars, spirals, spider webs and other symbols that will bring a sense of mystery to whichever woman will wear these outfits.

The magical series included an evening ensemble of a long black column dress with a matching open jacket, a vintage coat sparkled with the same symbolic theme, followed by a skirt and top combo, and a lovely black and white-open collared coat with simple sparkling circles.

These looks, though classic in style, were marked with a Libertine signature of jarringly loud multi-colored patterns on the leggings, which clashed with the classy cluster of magical dresses and coats.  It was a reminder that the true Libertine style is creative chaos and crazy colors. Hartig even sprinkled sparkles on his menswear.  A gray jacket with white trim had silver streaks running horizontally across the each side of the chest. This was paired with plaid knickers bearing collegiate-like patches plus skull and crossbones, which was a recurring symbol on the menswear, along with “Yale” patches.

The collection showcased the kaleidoscope of colors and patterns that have become Hartig’s trademark.  The entire collection was like a DIY for popping up classic pieces, sweaters, cutoffs with paint, sparkles, and sequins, which was even on men’s cutoff pants.

Several ensembles were whitened up with what looked like paint.  But the look created abstract energy and visual amusement.  Two standouts in this series included a menswear beige wool coat and black pants, which looked as if the designer with paintbrush in hand, had momentarily stopped him and literally painted his outfit.  This was repeated with a men’s black jacket, black shirt and black cutoffs.  Two other standouts in the series were a women’s broad-shouldered black pants suit with a vivid red and yellow paint-look effect, and another was a red pencil skirt and jacket with a white paint-look effect.

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” was printed on women’s coats, a menswear jacket and even a menswear sweat suit.  Libertine’s collection delivered a distracting Muhammad Ali punch with the juxtaposition of classic styles and sparkling cosmic symbols with jarring multi-color combinations, which was somewhat distracting like a bee sting—but fun!

—Francesca Simon