story by Dana Varon
color photos by Stephen F. Bodi
b&w photos by Dana Varon
Bustling down the closed-off Gansevoort Street are Andrew Buckler‘s boys for Spring 2012, a brooding bunch baring seasonal basics.The designer set out to “keep things very simple this season, and turned away from doing too much layering in summer,” adding, “you just don’t do that, it’s boiling.” Boiling it was, both on the temperature and clothing meters. The clothes fit right in on the hot September afternoon, with light linen, gauzy sweaters, just past the knee slim and droopy shorts, and drop-crotch pants with tapered bottoms and cuffs.
Lightweight tailored windbreakers and “summer-weight” leather jackets with stitched-on leather sleeves followed. Standouts on the street were the super-soft t-shirt and barely distinguishable matching vest, separate hood scarves, and sleeveless shirt with attached hood alike. Much of the softness of the fabric is due to, “a cotton viscose blend, ” that Mr. Buckler used, wanting this collection to be looser and feels his collections have become more so over time.
Though his inspiration was taken from Industrialization and stalwart structures in New York, they are paralleled by a refined easiness. Hence, the array of worn-in but well-made garments in washed out green, navy, black, grey white and stripes. Crinkled collared shirts, painted white denim, mixed brass and silver chains and zippers added a gang of grunge. A little gritty, a little graceful, the downtown dinginess derailed to decadent duds.
