After a year of anticipation and excitement Proenza Schouler designers Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough finally opened their very first store on Friday on Madison Avenue.
Their choice of location was one of the main topics of conversation in their interview with WWD and it's not hard to understand why. Over the years the brand has become known for their cool 'downtown' aesthetic, which many felt was at odds with the Madison Avenue. 'It just felt wrong in a good way to open uptown..the reality is, the clothes are expensive and the customer is here,' Hernandez said frankly and besides, they have a SoHo store set to open soon too.
Looking at their resort 2013 collection, it's not difficult to understand why they are doing so well. At the unveiling of the collection designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez said that they are committed to creating 'wearable, salable clothes that girls want' and that's exactly what their latest offering is.
Compared to their fall collection, there was nothing particularly new about the resort pieces but that wasn't a problem. The boyfriend jeans, scaled up coats, tweed jackets and leather pieces will undoubtedly go down well with their loyal following because it's the uncomplicated, practical natures of the clothes that make them so desirable. The use of interesting fabrics, which the duo are known for, helped elevate the otherwise simple pieces.
The Met Ball is in a matter of weeks so you know what that means - all of the speculation and reports officially begin now. The event has always been one of my favourites. The red carpet looks always exceed anything we've seen at any of the other big red carpet events but more than anything, it's the designer-celebrity partnership that gets me excited.
At this stage each year we all begin to question which star will team up with which designer and the first confirmations are in. Joseph Altuzarra is dressing Lana Del Rey and Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have confirmed that they will dress and attend the event with actress Isabel Lucas. Del Rey isn't an obvious paring for Altuzarra but I'm interested to see what he creates for her and Lucas will undoubtedly be a great clothes horse for Proenza.
Designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are still affectionately referred to as the Proenza Schouler 'boys' by the fashion press but after 10 years in the business, they are far from boys. Their collections continue to be met with rave reviews and it was no surprise that their name popped up this month along with the likes of Marc Jacobs and Alexander Wang as nominees for this years CFDA Awards. Far from resting on their laurels, the pair have announced that 2012 will be a year of expansion.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times they confirmed that they will use their latest round of investment to help take the brand to the next level. That has a resulted in a Madison Avenue boutique, which is currently in the construction stage and is expected to open its doors later this year. 'For us, it's weird to go to stores and see a watered-down version of the collection," Hernandez told the paper about the brand's presence in department stores. "With our own store, we'll have the opportunity to show our whole expression of the brand." Alongside the working on the store, they have also revamped their website and made more pieces available to buy and in July, a new line of denim priced between $255 to $295 will hit stores.
Last season I was just about the only person that wasn't crazy about the Proenza Schouler show but yesterday, Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough really pulled it out of the bag with their Fall 2012 collection. The feeling of reflection of the past for SS12 gave way to a collection that felt intrinsically modern.
The proportions were oversized and were the perfect deviation from all of the body contouring and figure hugging pieces that we've seen this season. This was particularly true on the oversized jackets and brilliantly slouchy wide leg trousers that the duo used to open the show. Shirts came with stiff collars in white or with a yellow section on the chest with a grey collar and oversized pocket.
Aside from porportions, the pair really experimented with textures. Leather appeared in the same oversized style of the opening looks but came teamed with a great oversized red and black shearling coat, that will undoubtedly be a hit a retail compared to the opening jackets that will prove hard to wear for the average customer. But it didn't end there. The pair wove leather strips in red, black, blue and white to create a grid-like effect for dresses, skirts and tops that was testament to their impressive technical ability. Quilting also popped up on varsity jackets and matching skirts with asymmetric hemlines.
Inspired by Asia but with a New York twist, kimono-style jackets featured but in the traditional prints but in modern silhouettes and a bird printed dress that appeared towards the end was the perfect updated nod to the continent, as well as their early collections.
The past few weeks have been full of speculation and anticipation about Permira's sale of its stake in Proenza Schouler to an investor group including Theory's founders Andre Rosen and John Howard. Now we can confirm that the deal has finally gone through after a year of negotiations.
“We are thankful to VFG [owned by Permira] for giving us a start, and allowing us to get where we are today,” Jack McCollough, Lazaro Hernandez, and Proenza Schouler CEO Shirley Cook said when the news was announced. “There’s so much we’d like to accomplish and have found the perfect complement in John and Andrew to help us realize our dreams.”
Proenza Schouler designers, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, are keeping themselves busy. The pair recently launched a small leather goods collection on their website and now the dup have announced that they have a costume jewelry line in the works.
Set to make an appearance in the brand's pre-season collection, the line is set to feature key statement pieces that will take you from season to season. The classic styles will be appear each season but in a reworked form featuring different colours and accents. “It’s nice when you've put so much time into developing a product for it to have a life,' McCollough told WWD. "So much stuff that we put out there, three months later, it’s gone.”
Don't let the fact that the Proenza Schouler boys included a Chanel-style jacket in the Spring '11 runway show convince you that they're becoming prim and proper. Although Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez took out a few inches of leg revealing, dressed their models in pumps and not sky-high platforms, and focused on embroidery and frills, we're sure their distinctive downtown set will take well - very well - to the collection. If you're still pleasing front-row guests as diverse as Courtney Love, Anna Wintour and Leighton Meester, then that's a compliment in itself.
This season, the Proenza Schouler collection reinterpreted "ladylike" details like florals, lace and embroidery for a hipper crowd. That meant knee-length skirts and even some midi varieties, as many designers have provided this season, and some very desirable silk dresses emblazoned with a tie-dye-meets-lace print. Our highlight? The designers' remix on the sheer trend, which was more pretty than vulgar with a bright yellow tank dress over lingerie and a pencil skirt. The New York shows came to a close on a high note, thanks to this collection.
