It’s hard to look fondly upon a designer whose show is so late that you miss the next presentation and who then conspires to have his audience depart half-deafened with tinnitus. But Todd Lynn’s sincerity comes through just as clearly as his very loud guest band, Slaves, did tonight. This pre-fall presentation for women was dropped amidst a Fall ’15 menswear collection. That mash-up was appropriate, because most of the looks, after a nip and a tuck, would be wearable on either gender. The point with Lynn, though, is that it’s not your gender but your sensibility that defines your readiness to wear his clothes. And Lynn’s type—exemplified by longtime client PJ Harvey, who lurked in his audience—is anything but mainstream.
His men and women wore big, bobbed, brunette identi-wigs over slim black trenches and suiting that jiggled with fringing down each sleeve and had chains at the pockets. There were sheepskin vests and reversible jersey-knit tunics-cum-smocks. Models of both genders slipped in their Louboutin Beatle boots—someone forgot to hairspray the soles—but found sounder traction on color-touched elastic-tied sneakers. Green tailoring, blue sheepskin vests, scarlet shoes, and bikers with collars of more blue broke up the mono. “I love you more when you’re angry because you’re so boring when you’re nice,” bellowed Slaves. This was a purist’s collection for the edgier RTW customer, and it danced to a certain music all of its own.