A Collina Strada show is always a fun time, and fashion needs more of that. Where else are you going to hear a song with the wacky refrain, “I love you most of all of my vegetables?” Or see a hunky model in bloomers and a tank top, mowing the runway?
The fact that designer Hillary Taymour is able to bring so much joy and wit to the sometimes wonky and always difficult sustainable fashion cause is itself worthy of celebration. She did it again Friday afternoon, at the Lower East Side’s Marble Cemetery of all places, which is also a glorious, verdant garden.
“You know the meme, ‘touch grass?’” the designer said ahead of the show, of her latest earth-loving inspiration, the cheeky insult that implies someone spends too much time inside. “I like to give back to green spaces in the city to help them stay alive, which I think is super important.”
Taymour said she wanted to elevate with this collection, and it showed in dramatic looks such as a washed floral cascading chiffon scrap top over matching daisy floral pants; filmy organza gowns, and sheer and color-soaked lacy slips that took the brand into new event dressing category. That was in addition to the casual recycled ruched mesh tops, cargo pants and deadstock plaids and fleece she is already known for.
Continuing her hit parade of collaborations, she debuted new Puma sneakers with detachable flower cutouts, and grass-green Sperry Topsiders, as well as launching her own sheer sneaker boots. “The jewelry is huge, the collabs are huge,” Taymour said. “I feel bad saying it but my business is thriving.”
It’s no easy feat; just ask Mara Hoffman. The designer, who made sustainability a cornerstone of her brand starting in 2014, decided to close it in May. At the time, she sounded defeated, posting about the fashion business on her Instagram, “It’s no secret that its success is still bound to harm….”
But when she returned to fashion Friday–as a model at Collina Strada–she danced and back flipped down the runway. New growth abounds.
