Color, form, and creative energy that gives joy to the world are how we can describe this Pre-Fall collection that is also treated as the main collection for next season. For Christopher John Rogers’ latest collection, sequentially named Collection 009, there is an insular focus and continued dedication to evolving house codes old and new. There is a fixation on the transformative quality of clothing and the symbiotic relationship between the clothes and wearer.
One outside influence that informs the collection is the steadily growing customer base of individualists who continue to seek the tools Rogers creates for a carving out of autonomy and self-expression, informed by his own desire for those tools in his youth.
Though the customer may not be present at the studio to bear witness to the way in which Rogers applies his vision with great specificity, perhaps it’s not entirely necessary. One can feel the intention when they wear the clothes.
This season began by ruminating on his childhood and his past, pulling disparate moments from recollections of getting dressed in the South in the early aughts. A certain American preppy-ness; a Southern propriety and pulled-togetherness informed the monochromatic ensembles, prim shapes, and overall polish; while an early adolescence spent surfing online forums, navigating video games, and perusing for individuality in secondhand shops gives way to moments of quirk and a refreshing idiosyncrasy.
The result is fun, celebratory, it gives people reasons to see fashion in a new light, as an excuse to be playful and innocent again. The colors – bright and subtle hues – are mesmerizing. The silhouettes are bold, unapologetic, and harmonious.
He goes beyond fashion’s main purpose to dress, and up to an artistic level that gives us permission to express ourselves, indulge in the cheer of shapes put together in a meaningful way to create something eye-catching, conversation-starting, soul-healing. This collection is pure fantasy, the one only great designers can get us into!
