Sarah Pidgeon and Naomi Watts, the Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis of everyone’s new favorite TV series, Love Story, have been making the press rounds in Adam Lippes coats. Lippes is one of New York’s stealth designers, though maybe not so stealthy for long. In growth mode for the last couple of years, he just launched a Made in France handbag collection, is working on a sunglasses range with Selima Salaun of Selima Optique that’s set to debut later this year, and is in the process of opening a new store on Mount Street in London, and three more across Japan.
But back to those celebrity credits. Actresses like Watts and Pidgeon have their pick of top fashion brands, many of which pay A-list actresses to wear their clothes. Lippes’s label is on the upswing, but he’s not in a position to be courting stars that way. If they’re wearing him it’s because they like the look and, importantly, the feel of what he designs.
Materiality, texture, and hand-feel were as important as ever in his new fall collection, whether the red and camel double-face cashmere knit of a “track suit,” the delectable cashmere twill of a funnel-neck blouson jacket and matching pants, or the thick pile of the Scalamandré tiger motif silk of a sculptural coat. Lippes took his love of race cars as a loose theme this season, which resulted in sportier than usual day clothes, and some younger-leaning pieces too. The mini skirts he introduced for pre-fall were a hit, so they were back again here, paired with anoraks in vivid shades of cobalt blue and red. His outerwear offering was quite robust, and it ranged from a quilted satin puffer in icy white to a snap-front navy parka lined with shearling or mink to a coyote fur chubby. Why the emphasis on fur? There’s a demand for it, Lippes indicated, and the CFDA’s impending ban won’t impact him if he continues his salon-style presentations off-calendar.
His appointment-only space on Fifth Avenue has brought him closer to his clients, and he hears it all: what they like, what they don’t, what’s missing. Responding to calls for florals after leaving them out of the picture last season he developed a moody heirloom rose print, made even moodier when he had it stamped on a semi-translucent lacquered PVC raincoat. Fittingly, the newest addition to his handbag line is a vase-shaped bucket bag in tumbled grain leather.
