It’s been 10 years since Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia founded their contemporary label Monse. In the past decade, they have established a fashion identity that stylishly plays with tailoring and draping, injecting menswear styles into women’s wear with just the right amount of cool, and putting youthful and unexpected twists on preppy dressing. The design duo has a stylish fan base which includes Nicky Hilton and Claire Danes who sat front row at the show alongside fashion designers Phillip Lim and Prabal Gurung.
For this anniversary collection, the same hallmarks that made Monse a fashion favorite were reinforced. The gray pinstriped power suit was reinvented by twisting and knotting the jacket exposing the midriff. The trousers have been given a sarong-like draping. Men’s striped shirting material has been configured into a mini dress with asymmetric knots on the shoulder and hem. A tailored shirt is given a flyaway hem and a trompe l’oeil print of lingerie. And a bra top is fashioned out of the sleeves of a tailored shirt.
Sailing stripes figured as a tank dresses and sleeveless collared shirts. The brand’s signature double waist bands reappeared on denim. Strings of beads were draped on nude illusion fabric to create a mini dress and a top with cascades of glitz and glamour. A mini skirt which announced itself as it entered the room because of the sound it made was spun from strands of pearls. For evening, the designers showed their version of a goddess dress in ultra-chic chocolate brown with softly gathered and knotted details, as well as a champagne colored silk charmeuse number that easily called to mind a vision of a modern-day Tamara de Lempicka portrait subject.
As Laura and Fernando and their label Monse enter their second decade, it will be exciting to see how they will grow the brand to even bigger and cooler status.