Michael van der Ham s inspiration this year was "tough girl—moody and dark." Or, put another way, "Lulu having a rough day," he said with a laugh, referring to Fashion East s Lulu Kennedy, the first person to spot his talents. Van der Ham was one of the 2013 Fashion Forward winners, and he has received plentiful industry support from his beginnings: Today there was a sense of his acknowledging that by evolving his collection much more than in seasons past. Perhaps he realized that the patchwork/collage look that garnered him attention in the first place was reaching its sell-by date.
That result was a much more polished outing than Spring, with some serious stabs at refinement—especially in the shape of one Oscar-worthy black and white gown that was adorned with a hammered-metal appliqué van der Ham called "bullion." If it sounds rough-and-tumble, it was not: The appliqué came through on the chiffon as perfectly refined and smooth, helped along by a precision cut that was relatively new to the van der Ham repertoire.
The Dutchman used other cool sewing tricks and techniques to somehow suggest that was all one-dimensional, though it was not: The van der Ham signature of texture and depth was still very much there. Case in point was a cashmere top using a moss stitch to maintain a fuzzy look. Van der Ham s use of chenille on a few boxy coats seemed to suddenly upgrade the fabric from its usual identity as a bad sofa covering to demi couture, and his ingenious "inside-out jacquard" (he literally turned the jacquard inside out) was pleasantly substantial to the touch.
The printed blouses—which added a surprise element to the show—were unexpectedly good, especially beneath the coats that had sculpted cutouts, providing a peep into the wonderful cloud formation prints a layer under. And Christian Louboutin s tough-girl patent-leather shoes with the scary-looking ball bearings in the heels provided the first real TDF shoe moment of this season. Ikram Goldman was one of van der Ham s first fans Stateside, and after this collection, it s a safe bet he ll pick up several more high-profile admirers. It would be great if they discovered him in time for the Oscars.
