Dan Flavin s early work—the single color canvases, not the fluorescent lights he s famous for—lined Jason Wu s Pre-Fall mood board. They gave him his strong, saturated color palette, and informed the very subtle detailing of what is Wu s most minimal lineup yet. A year after joining Hugo Boss as artistic director, Wu s signature collection has been streamlined and overhauled. It s hard to imagine the woman who ll wear these clothes fussing about with the glossy eelskin stripes, gold bugle beads, and disco vibes of his Pre-Fall collection from last year. But if a certain no-nonsense sensibility infused the new clothes, if Wu has shrugged off fun, he hasn t abandoned luxury. The standout piece here was a sleeveless sheath in fine plonge leather in an emerald green so deep it was almost black, with a wraparound bodice and a deep front slit. Wu believes in the simplicity and sophistication of that silhouette, and it rematerialized in double-face cashmere embellished with tiny hand-tacked slits like the tracery lines on Flavin s paintings. He used the same double-face material for a shawl-collared tuxedo with wide-legged trousers that will be as comfy as your favorite sweats. A beaded T-shirt dress didn t measure up in the elegance department, but the beaded, bias-cut long slipdress had a graceful way about it.
