It was clear from her spring collection that Sharon Wauchob has achieved a state of flow. Better yet, she has taken that transcendent fluidity between body and mind and translated it into garments that caress the wearer and interact with the air. “We edited it really solidly, and each step after was quite quick and unapologetic,” said the designer on a call. “I feel at the moment, especially with what we’re doing, the clarity has to be there…the customers want to know how to use it.”
The entire collection, which was largely made using archival silks, some mixed with cotton, others with a papery technical finish (see the trench), oozed confidence without a trace of stridency. The image of a spiderweb, gossamer yet strong, came to mind. That Wauchob can conjure such a feeling using the most ethereal materials—chiffon as delicate as a shadow, French lace, ostrich feathers, and résille nets—is a testament to her skill and to her experience.
Having established her brand in 1998, this independent Irish designer is coming into her own. “We’re always told the same things, like ‘Do what you believe in,’ but it’s so hard to keep that focus. I think being a little bit more mature helps with that; I’m much better at it now than I used to be,” said Wauchob. “We have been persevering, and so it does work to keep doing what you believe in.” As the designer expands her wholesale business and adds direct-to-consumer options, she’s sure to attract acolytes. Hers are thoughtful, well-made clothes that respect tradition yet are totally of the now.
Wauchob said she’s working more intuitively, and it was easy to sense that. For spring she started with the idea that “luxury doesn’t have to be an extreme proposition” and challenged herself to “achieve that irreverent balance between casual elegance and modern sensibility.” One of the ways she did so was to blow up a scrunchie (shades of irony here) into a sort of sculptural prop that could be worn as a peplum belt or sash. (“And I’m not a scrunchie girl at all,” Wauchob emphasized.) In look 2, this piece creates a break in a linear silhouette created by a white camisole and tailored pants cut on a curve. (Wauchob works with Savile Row–trained artisans in England.) Smaller feathered “scrunchies” pushed up to the elbow transformed a silk T-shirt into a statement piece. An angelic top with floating streamers made use of the spiral cuts Wauchob has developed over time.
Having experienced the ’90s, the designer doesn’t find minimalism to be so new; in fact she feels that fashion has become flat. She found the antidote in ’80s references; to be more exact, in balancing them with a sort of grunge-era simplicity. “I always shied away from the ’80s,” Wauchob said, but “I like the juxtaposition; I like taking something that’s not in my comfort zone.” What Greed Decade aesthetics deliver, the designer notes, is three-dimensionality. Here you could find it in a gilded garment-pleated hooded top, in the folds of a tunic-like dress with a net, and even the feathered columns. Then there were other things you can’t see, like the construction of the skirt in the last look, which is on the bias but, the designer explained, cut from two interlocking pieces.
One of Wauchob’s first jobs out of school was working with Koji Tatsuno (a protégé of Yohji Yamamoto) in Paris. When it comes to three-dimensional forms, she noted, “the cutting is quite important.” It’s also something, she continued, that has to be communicated one-on-one. There are no gimmicks and no shortcuts in this method of creating tactile shapes with pattern pieces and hands. This collection was a tactile one: smooth, soft, silky, and sculpted. The materials might be delicate but, as Wauchob noted, “it’s not fragile in any sense.” Yet it was enchanting.
