Given the global context, there’s a solid case to be made for taking a step back. This season, Egonlab founders Florentin Glémarec and Kevin Nompeix made a measured decision to forego a big runway fandango in favor of a small friends-and-family dinner at the Paris institution Anahi, followed by a showroom presentation.
“With everything going on right now, and new challenges in the fashion economy, we just wanted to get back to our roots,” Nompeix offered during a preview. The duo said that punk inspirations—a predominant trend for spring—allowed them to reconnect with the dissent, disenfranchisement and disillusionment that got them excited about fashion in the first place.
For the clued-in viewer, the lookbook for the “Notes from Underground” (sic) collection is full of knowing winks. Lennon Gallagher, son of Oasis founder Liam, wears out-there flares and a matching checked-and-striped jacket; British Vogue’s Tish Weinstock appears in porcelain white and blue armor.
“It was about offering something strong for our clientele, to thank them,” the designers said. A manifesto for anti-mainstream freedom, of a sort, came in suiting with cut-outs either at the waist on a strong-shouldered blue and red checked suit with pooling flares, or at the hips, in which case inset boxers kept the look clear of overexposure. Ivy League-style sweatshirts paid homage to Lady Di, and tanks and trompe-l’oeil shirts with crochet floral brooches amped up a feminine vibe. Strong statements included a disco-fab gold lamé shirt, a sweatshirt starring Droopy in a The Cure mode, and soft-washed denim trousers with a clever trompe l’oeil label-slash-discreet card holder that riffed on the most iconic name in jeans. Such magpie borrowings will be catnip to Egonlab’s base. A burgeoning shoe proposition—silver jeweled loafers, square-toed musketeer boots, cowboy mules or striped man-flats—hinted at where the label is headed next.
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