Nicholas K Fall 2015

With Nicholas K, you will get the nomad chic aesthetic. However, this season the design duo included looks that were more refined and retail friendly while staying true to their signature aesthetic. Though Nicholas K fans love their nomad chic point of view, how many draped, asymmetrical garments can consumers have in their wardrobe without the look becoming a little stale?

That said, Nicholas and Chris Kunz for fall 2015 looked to silent movie horror films from the 1920s, in particular “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’s.” The dark, somewhat gothic elements of the German 20s horror flick flittered into this collection evidenced in looks that bordered on sexy, retro sadomasochistic incarnations with a hint of Victorian elegance.

Suprisingly, this marriage of nomadic chic with Victorian bondage girl—a dissimilar pairing if there was ever one—rendered this outing perhaps more sensual and accessible to consumers. I could envision a lot of young female consumers in these looks more than the Nicholas K urban, nomadic warrior from previous season.

Unlike previous seasons, there were no male looks in this collection. The design duo made up for this lack of menswear by taking the typical man’s pinstripe suit and deconstructing it in some very innovative ways. The pinstripe suite was sometimes deconstructed and turned into an asymmetrical poncho. At other times it was designed into dropped crouch pants with a voluminous pinstriped coat.

True to form, there were several stunning coats in this collection. Coat standouts were Nicholas K’s marble-printed shearling bomber, burgundy pinstriped suit with fur color, a belted olive and black leather hoodie coat and the shocker of the collection a rather traditionally cut long cashmere camel coat.

—William S. Gooch