“The whole look book is very Goth-driven,” R13’s Chris Leba said during a preview of his fall lineup.
Last season, the designer stepped into a moodier sensibility with his grungy, ominous florals. With fall, he continued to push that ethos with an even darker tone (and “evil floral” print featuring skulls or dark angels), twisting elements of Gothic, punk and downtown New York-y styles together to create the next chapter in his label’s continued masculine-feminine push-pull.
“The inspiration has lingered in the air in the sense that it’s never black and white, but a buildup,” Leba said. “I think it started when I saw ‘Dune 2,’ which is very future Goth, and then ‘Nosferatu,’ which was so Goth. It’s also part of our whole counterculture ethos. It’s not like we haven’t done Goth before. Once you’re Goth, it’s just another day, another outfit.”
The beauty of the collection was that Leba didn’t lean too heavily on one theme, but rather piled rich layers together in loads of suede, velvet, slick leather, corduroy and tweeds alongside jersey, gauze, flannel and denim layers.
For instance, newness came through dark wash, slim jeans with laser-cut florals; ultra wide-leg tweed trousers with an oversize lady-meets-bomber jacket (an idea that nicely continued throughout fall, with different proportions); combination halter baby-doll dresses; padded and quilted styles, like a sharp floral velvet blazer with padded collar (like a built-in pillow!), and warped camouflage styles from head to toe.
Taking it one step further, literally, Leba debuted a sharp “femme fatale” bootie with sharp, turned-up toes to contrast with the brand’s more mannish staples, this season including a gray boyfriend blazer covered in safety pins, chains and cross charms, slouchy cargo pants, and more.
