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Calvin Klein F/W 2018

Art / Architecture / Design / Fashion

Calvin Klein

Fall/ Winter 2018

Fashion tends to live out it’s own fantasy, providing an escape from the physical reality that surrounds us. While Raf Simons’ earliest shows for Calvin Klein focused on blatant horror, fall/winter 2018 centered on perhaps the even scarier notion of a dystopian future, as well as our society at it’s present.

Posted October 29th, 2018 By Colby Mugrabi

For Simons’ third collection as creative director of the quintessential American fashion house, the designer offered a list of 50 words in his pre-show notes, words that included: Popcorn, Warhol, Looney, and Fantasy. These curated idioms set the tone for the garments that followed – a visual meditation on classic Americana signifiers and the concept of Freedom.

The collection opened with orange sanitation-like jumpsuits and jackets with reflective bands, transitioning into Western shirts, elevated patchwork ensembles and innocent prairie dresses, matured with sheer fabrics and ruffled bibs that barely covered the chest, looking like something straight out of Westworld. Mentioned also as inspiration was the 1995 film SAFE, in which Julienne Moore stars as a California housewife who suffers from mysterious illnesses. Elements of this disaster film were seen in the show’s use of silver foil-like material on long gloves, boxy jackets and head coverings, bringing to mind early space suits and 1970’s sci-fi films.

Taking place in the former American Stock Exchange in New York’s financial district, the show’s set design mimicked the same barn-esque environments featured in the brand’s stores and ad campaigns – Rustic scaffolding, popcorn-covered floors, Warhol prints, and Sterling Ruby sculptures filled the room; a backdrop as eclectic and electrifying as the collection that followed.