A quiet conversation taking place across New York this season is the uphill battle that is being an independent designer in the city. Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta probably know this better than anyone: more than a decade after they started, they’re still fine tuning aspects of their business. In recent seasons they’ve begun showing their pre-collections with their main collections: “There’s no reason why a company of our scale should be having four collections or eight shows, or why we should be compared to a company that does,” said Latta. And beginning this season, they’ve switched their internal schedule around so they can go to market before staging their fashion show. “Knowing we were going to do that [switch], we were thinking that the point of the show should be an opportunity to do something different or do a refresh,” Latta said a day before the show at their Bushwick studio. “We’ve been doing this for 13 years now: what does an Eckhaus Latta show mean for us?” Eckhaus added. “Quiet luxury is a term that’s used a lot—and that’s so not what we are— but I like this idea of paring things back towards an idea of minimalism, which for us was just more about, ‘How do we make clothes and work that are concise?’”
For fall, that meant a runway show inside an empty industrial office in Hudson Square, and a sparse musical performance by Loren Kramar, which began with a cover of Lana Del Rey’s “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have—but I have it.” The first look was a cropped jacket made from laminated felt with an oversized faux-fur collar and cuffs worn with a pencil skirt with spiral seams and cutouts that revealed a little bit of leg. The laminated felt material resembled both leather and corrugated cardboard—something that you immediately need to touch in order to figure out exactly what it is. A shaggy coat in that same shade of cardboard beige was paired with an easy semi-sheer cotton ribbed tank, and straight leg slouchy jeans in an earthy acid wash. (The jeans have a full zipper around the crotch and are called the “GoodTime jean.”)
One thing Eckhaus Latta has never lacked is sex appeal. The clothes may have been more restrained, but there was an unmistakable seduction implicit in the way that certain knits hugged the body, or certain fabrics swooshed as they walked by. A pair of slouchy pleated corduroys was garment washed until they achieved the softest hand; their drape had all the sensuality of a slinky velvet evening gown. Paired with an easy ribbed knit tank and a faux-fur scarf tossed around the neck, the look was simply too fabulous while still being completely grounded. A group of quilted pieces was a highlight; especially a surplus-inspired two-in-one jacket with a removable vest in shiny red oxblood, and a gently curved pair of trousers in the same color, which were worn with a multi-color patchworked sweater. Another pair in charcoal gray had zippers that allowed the pants to be converted into a skirt, and was worn with an easy, super lightweight knit cardigan with a contrasting collar unbuttoned all the way to the belly button. It was all very sexy without trying very hard.
Elsewhere, a cropped denim jacket was slashed at the rib cage, just above the last button, leaving the top part to fit semi-loosely around the body, and the bottom to fit tightly against the torso. The last three looks featured black organza embroidered with elastic and printed with vintage photos found on eBay, layered over simple white slip dresses. By now the singer had moved on from Lana Del Rey and into a cover of “New York, New York.” The choice of songs felt like a distinct message. While so many people love to declare that New York fashion is over, Eckhaus Latta believe in the city and in the community that has nurtured them throughout the years.
