Chromat Fall 2015

OK, lingerie as daywear/eveningwear, latex and vinyl fabrications, garter belts, cone breasts, geometrically cut, revealing garments, exposure of lots of skin; it’s all been done before. (Does anyone remember the 90s runway shows of Thierry Mugler and Jean-Paul Gaultier.)

But, this is the second decade of the Twenty-First century, and at this current point in time, no brand does the aforementioned silhouettes and fabrications better than Chromat. Known for their show stopping looks for Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, and the “Mother of them all” Madonna, the creative mind behind Chromat, Becca McLaren reached deep into her ever expanding repertoire of garments based on architecture, geometric shapes and seduction and created a collection that not only provided a bit of shock value, but injected that special kind of oomph that so absent from the current cadre of collections that sashayed down runways during New York Fashion Week.

Now, these kinds of garments are definitely for a niche consumer base that is not afraid to show what your momma gave you. Still, a lot can be said for fashion that is niche based and represents fashion as art. (There are way too many milquetoast collections that are primed for mass consumption, leaving innovation and creativity on the cutting floor.

That said; McLaren’s intellectual approach to the synthesis of geometric shapes, architecture and fashion-forward design almost puts her in a class by herself. And her fall 2015, if nothing else, demonstrated that her point of view projects toward the future and establishes herself as a purveyor of fashion as minimalist art.

Inspired by a New York magazine story on powerful transgendered CEO Martine Rothblatt who made a robot of her wife Bina from a “mind file,” digitally gathered social media and online information, McLaren used this reference to create a collection based on things that were synthetic; vinyl, rubber, latex, fake Swarovski crystals, fake hair, in other words product that had no human or animal context.

McLaren’s references points has produced a fall 2015 collection that borders slightly on theatre of the absurd, but always cutting edge and thought provoking; as fashion should. Standouts in this collection were the latticed rubber hoop skirt, black vinyl bustier and panties with pink piping, and sheer fitted black dress with rubber pasties and panties.

—William S. Gooch

http://youtu.be/w2r0UNk9Klw