Despite Jamie Bochert leading the procession of models storming **Mandy Coon’**s runway show yesterday, it would appear that Coon has tossed aside her formerly favored postpunk threads. Indeed, this spring the DJ-turned-designer rolled out graphic lambskin halter dresses, disco-era jumpsuits, and kilt-like miniskirts patchworked together with pleated chiffon strips, which served to deliver an altogether brighter, more polished mood; albeit with a disheveled edge, in keeping with her youthful vision. What struck most was her playful use of color; a digital, Balenciaga-esque drip print in cobalt, moss, and lemon, promised to lure a more commercially minded customer to her growing band of acolytes.
Coon’s inspiration? Artist David Altmejd’s towering, figurative sculptures, which incorporate a madcap mix of textures. That, and a nerdy childhood fascination with crystals and rock formations, whose structure played into that inaugural use of pleats. “It’s an indirect translation of those two things,” she says with a shrug. “And an evolution of the discipline I brought into my work last season.”