With fashion-forward starlets like Selma Blair, Mary-Kate Olsen, Chloe Sevigny, and Nicole Richie in the front row, Proenza Schouler offered up its take on an updated schoolgirl look on Wednesday night: buttoned-up, moody, and graphic, complete with the requisite '90s thigh-high stockings.
Frankly, the first thought that popped into our heads as the parade of dark-lipped, pleated skirt-and-buttoned-up collar-clad models started parading down the runway was: It's like Heathers meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but with Cher from Clueless's budget. It really does seem that the New York scene's leading roster of young talent -- Proenza Schouler and Alexander Wang being the most notable examples -- have taken their cues from the cult late-'80s, early-'90s schoolgirl set, from a cheeky take on a letter jacket (in this case, a fur-collared coat with white letter jacket-looking sleeves) to a goth-inspired, Buffy-ish black pleated skirt paired with a sheer black buttoned-up blouse and black thigh-highs.
As with all Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez's collections for Proenza, the collection is diverse but cohesive: Eclectic prints from florals to ikat comingle with velvet and leather, and yet the schoolgirl-like silhouettes (pleated skirts, tea party collars and V-neck sweaters) keep it all together. There was also an abundance of bold print-mixing, which is clearly the trend we're most interested in experimenting with for fall -- though it may take us a bit more courage to get ready to embrace the sheer thigh-highs again.
