In New York, colourful young up-and-coming designers

In the winter torpor of New York Fashion Week, two under-the-radar designers – Tomo Koizumi and Sies Marjan – got themselves noticed with collections boasting flamboyant colour palettes. A genuine ode to creativity in a transatlantic fashion landscape regularly accused of faint-heartedness.

tomo koizumi’s chromatic ode

In Marc Jacobs’ flagship store on Madison Avenue, Tomo Koizumi, the protégé of larger-than-life Katie Grand, presented his very first show a few weeks ago. On the programme? A series of looks with an electric grandiloquence, composed exclusively of an endless amount of coloured polyester ruffles.

Real architectural constructions, these experimental dresses in eulogistic volumes swung between “bubble”, mini and skater styles, also making good use of capes and puffed shoulders. In addition to these astounding constructions, Tomo Koizumi’s designs stood out with their joyful, punchy arrays of colour, creating a whirlwind of dreamlike contrasts as each model passed by.

The icing on the cake? T-shirts featuring the Statue of Liberty that appeared on certain designs, giving them an urban credibility that’s sure to win over contemporary fashionistas.

sies marjan’s loving shades

Sander Lak, creative director of the Sies Marjan label, said when describing his new autumn/winter opus that it’s a collection that speaks of love and how we apply these feelings to making clothes. The essence of his collection? Revisiting lace, a material that the designer long scorned, and reviving his penchant for the neon colours that he had wrongly judged as outmoded. This gave rise to looks with gentle couture influences, blending asymmetric cuts, ingenious layering, subtle seaming and clever colour combinations.

A mandarin wrap coat was therefore layered with an oversize men’s shirt and paired with jade-coloured darted trousers, the suit was given a twist in shiny taupe-coloured silk, while dresses dazzlingly whirled in shades ranging from light blue to fuchsia. An enchanted interlude marked by inventiveness that has definitely whetted our appetite for a flamboyant wardrobe.