Nicholas K Fall 2014

A few seasons back, in fact their last fall/winter collection, creative directors Nicholas and Christopher Kunz slightly missed the boat. It seemed as if they were churning out the same urban nomadic motif season after season and that particular point of view was running out of steam.

This season their signature looked has not changed, but they have definitely injected a lot more rhythm and energy into their work.  Imagine “Mad Max and the Thunderdome” meets Jennifer Garner in “Daredevil,”but a bit more futuristic.

Coming off of a win-win designing costumes for “Hunger Games Catching Fire,” the brother and sister design duo looked to French photographer Jean Gaumy’s book Men at Sea for inspiration. What resulted was a collection that could definitely survive the harsh winter elements, but survive it with style and fashion-forward panache.

Outerwear, particularly coats, has been this design teams strong points in previous collections, and again coats are the focus in this outing. What stands out this season in Nicholas K’s outerwear is the fantastic mix of textures, knitwear and leather, leather and vinyl, leather and fur, as well as the asymmetrical cuts of the jackets with oversized collars. And where other designers might go to extremes with layering, creating a busy hodgepodge of too many ideas, Christopher and Nicholas Kunz expertly mix and matched fabrics and silhouettes that created swaddling effect that did not distract from the overall look.

The brand has upped the ante this season and has their finger on the pulse of what the urban, downtown fashionista wants to wear. And they have even managed to make exposed midriffs sexy and some how appropriate for cooler temperatures.

The nomadic urban warrior is still a strong point of view for Nicholas K. But, this season they have managed to elevate this perspective out of the seen-it-before lens to a point of view that is fresh, current, consumer friendly and in step with where fashion is heading.

—William S. Gooch