story by Aya Rosen
photos by Ned and Aya Rosen
The name A’Detacher means to be detached, or to detach things from one another. It fits perfectly with Mona Kowalska’s style, which every season manages to be very true to what she chooses to express rather than the current trends or any seasonal style. However, this year, many of A’Detacher’s signature motifs seem to be almost trendy– big shoulders, buggy pants, high waist lines, and color blocks which the designer has been including in her garments for years, these things were pretty high up in other shows, some of the very major labels.
It was interesting to see how this collection manage to keep those A’Detacher’s details while at the same time surprising and creating something entirely new. Incorporating intricate crochet style lace, subtle and bold prints, knitted trims and plats, and faux fur, she ended up creating a series of garments that can be worn at almost any occasion without a clear or necessary distinction between evening, daytime, work, and fun.
The color scale was very subdued, in shades of black, clay, camel, mauve, olive-brown and gray with a few eye-popping shades of crimson, lilac and sage green. Each outfit in this collection managed to be both sexy and modest, mysterious and basic, all at the same time, covering the body where you would expect it to be revealing, and exposed where you expect it to be covering. Creating a look that is comfortable yet very sophisticated is rather difficult, but she has executed that idea very well here, as we’ve seen her do season after season in years passed.
