Now that he’s decamped from Paris and relocated to the Hollywood Hills in his home state of California, it’s safe to say that Spencer Phipps has entered his LA era. “I’m so happy to be back. It’s been pure joy this last year,” he said at his show last night. “I wanted to focus on the core essence of what Phipps represents and I think I can do it better in the US. It makes more sense for the brand from a marketing strategy, a business strategy, and also my own personal life.”
To present the fall 2023 Phipps collection—his first on American soil—he chose a quintessential Hollywood location, Big Sky Movie Ranch. If you’ve never heard of this sprawling landscape set deep in Ventura County, you’ve certainly seen it on TV and in the movies; it was used as a set for everything from Little House on the Prairie to Twin Peaks to, most recently, Babylon.
If Phipps’s design story were a script, this would be that pivotal scene where the protagonist takes control of the narrative. Over the year that he’s been back, he’s refined the brand identity, drawing on inspiration from its rugged workwear roots; formally introduced denim and underwear, and built out his womenswear. There’s even talk of moving all production from Portugal to LA. He counts these as the progressive steps that align with a commitment to US-based manufacturing and sustainable practices.
As magic hour descended, it was difficult to discern where the guests ended and the models began. Phipps’s work is grounded in reality; he extracts elements of American subcultures—western, grunge, punk—and reimagines them through a contemporary lens modeled on a diverse cast of characters including real cowboys, bikers, and one multi-hyphenate jiu jitsu black belt-magician-guitarist.
Phipps ties the brand divisions together through cohesive design and layered styling. For fall, the influence of Avedon’s American West series came across in blanket capes and chap jeans crafted from upcycled leather scraps and vintage denim, whereas grommets and d-rings spoke to the influence of the ’50s teens in Karlheinz Weinberger’s photography. Standout pieces from the new womenswear included long, straight, slouchy jeans and a deadstock pullover anorak paired with a camouflage midi skirt. On the men’s side, there were “butch florals” in the form of camouflage patterns and subtle hieroglyphs representative of the four archetypes of masculinity—the king, warrior, magician, and lover.
The noise around sustainability within the fashion industry is only getting louder and more confusing. It’s appreciated that Phipps keeps it simple, remixing the past to plan for and protect the future. “Using up leftovers, recycling, upcycling and incorporating vintage is a labor of love for me,” he said. The chore jackets and anoraks on the runway are part of an ongoing deadstock project with Woolrich.
Showing Phipps in Paris gave the brand a point of difference. Back home in LA, the field is crowded with other brands riffing on the Southern California lifestyle. So how does he plan to differentiate Phipps? “We’ve always been doing our own thing and will continue to do so,” he said. “Our voice stood out in the Paris landscape and I believe the same will happen here, but with a bigger community.”
