Richard Chai Love Fall 2014

Pop star Joe Jonas and his girl Blanda Eggenschwiler chose the perfect show to share during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Richard Chai Love + Richard Chai Men’s collection proved to be a perfect blend of flowing feminine silhouettes for the women and shearling bomber jacket swag-style for the men.

Chai’s women’s garments were expressed in fluid silhouettes featuring flounce and handkerchief skirts, ruched tops and trousers, with sequined details on jackets and pants. One petrol green/onyx paneled dress with a repeated “V” design was a standout. Chai paired an onyx parka with a detachable fur vest to a wine/navy stripped scarf dress—two types of softness, furry and silky.

In this collection Chai romances his female consumers with a winter floral pattern using it in coats, jackets, skirts and pants.  He introduced this design in the show with a bordeaux/onyx winter floral jacquard shawl collar long coat with a sage green/onyx winter floral jacquard slouch trouser—dramatic and romantic.  He softened up the classic peacoat with a sage green/onyx winter floral shawl collar cut coupled with a bordeaux/onyx winter floral jacquard paneled dress.  His tailoring talent was highlighted in several of the women’s outfits, including a bark grey brushed glen plaid cutaway blazer and a winter floral one-button jacket.

The show sparkled with black and white metallic blazers with sequin details and metallic skinny trousers sprinkled later in the show. Plaid and stripes were both popular combinations in the collection for both the men and the women.  If couples like to coordinate their outfits, Chai has provided perfect matches in his color palette, as well as good matches in plaid and stripes. Chai presented the layered look for both women and the menswear. Sometimes it was orderly; a toffee/sage/black one button blazer, shirtdress and skinny trouser worked well for the women.  But for the men it was sometimes a bit uneven.

For the men, working with a color palette of cement, stone, petrol green, petrol blue, hunter green, bark brown, and smoky navy, Chai crafted classic cut edge blazers, leather jackets, and shearling bomber jackets. Chai’s second season of collaboration with the outerwear line of Andrew Marc X Richard Chai was an excellent offering of beautiful bomber jackets, sterling shearling coats, and moto jackets.

—Francesca Simon