COSTELLO TAGLIAPIETRA AUTUMN/WINTER 2015-16 READY-TO-WEAR NEW YORK

Designers Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra may be best known on the runway for their expert dress-draping skills and film noir silhouettes, but off the catwalk the husband-and-husband team garner plenty of attention for their uniform personal style. Take one plaid flannel shirt, a pair of khakis, a set of suspenders, a bushy beard—and, most important, a warm smile—and you’ve got the C & T look.

For Fall, they decided to let their personal aesthetic influence their professional one, bringing many of their signatures—save for facial hair—into the collection. They got the idea when taking long walks outdoors with their newly adopted bulldog. The color palette and the digital forest print were inspired by those strolls.

Instead of plaid flannel, there was plaid printed onto a silk dress, its many folds and pleats gathered at the waist. A check was also hand-stitched onto a plum-colored shell, which was worn with thick black suspenders attached to a softly pleated satin skirt. There was a cropped, quilted vest in pine wool, and perfectly tailored workwear pants that sat high on the waist. Even the less referential looks—like a wool wrap jacket with a matching gaucho pant, or a metallic V-neck top and circle skirt—were worn with boyish oxfords or hiking boots, designed in collaboration with the Frye company. In turn, the models looked inspired, not literal. “It’s not so heavy-handed,” said Tagliapietra. “We didn’t lose that femininity that we’re known for.” And that’s why it worked.