Reed Krakoff swapped the catwalk for a gallery this season. Video screens suspended from walls played the 4-D moving images that his longtime collaborator, photographer Steven Sebring, took of the collection (later they’ll be used for the label’s e-commerce site), while models wearing the Spring clothes idled in straight lines, allowing for close-up viewing. That was important this season, because Krakoff has embraced artisanal details. A pencil skirt was made from laser-cut leather bonded to tweed; T-shirts featured panels of fabric woven like a checkerboard and deep raffia trim at the hem; a tank dress was hand-macraméd. Not so long ago, Krakoff was touting a “warm minimalism.” This was definitely not that—in fact, there were times when it erred on the overwrought side—but there were connections to be made with his previous work. Sport, for one; Krakoff still likes the look of a zip-front track jacket. It’s hard to remember one of his collections without a touch of snakeskin, and that made reappearances, too, most memorably on a polished python leather vest.
The designer said the gallery space, with its walls painted in vivid blocks of cobalt, was a template for stores set to open soon in Paris and Soho. When they do, it’ll be the simplest pieces here that connect with customers. For our money, that’s the short, color-blocked baseball jersey dress, or a black slipdress in liquid viscose with panels of macramé.