It can be easy to forget that Marcus Wainwright and David Neville are British designers. Their business, Rag Bone, was born here in New York, and was built upon all-American denim. This year, they acted as Fashion Fund judges, following in the footsteps of Proenza Schouler.
Inspired by Nigel Shafran s 1990s photographs of English council-estate kids, their smart new Pre-Fall collection is a reminder of their UK roots, even if they did shoot their lookbook at an Upper East Side YMCA. (Fans of The Royal Tenenbaums might recognize it.) Like Shafran s pictures, R&B s clothes this season are graphic black-and-white, with athletic elements modeled after the shell suits the teenagers wear in the photographs. Wainwright and Neville s versions are elevated with touches of leather and mesh, and the fit has been tweaked for today. The key looks include a boxy baseball shirtdress worn over a crisp button-down, a black shorts suit with sporty insets on the shorts, and a knit tracksuit in white with black stripes that they teamed with an oversize tee. Also worth a callout: peep-toe leather slingbacks with contrast laces. The designers said the collection s delicate openwork lace dress was modeled after girls they remember from college in Newcastle. It added a feminine lilt to the lineup, but it didn t have the sharp pull of the other pieces.
