Greg Lauren has been making clothes out of damaged and upcycled fabrics since at least 2011, long before the practice was deemed “sustainable” and a full decade before it became a couture trend. He’s always chosen to celebrate and exaggerate the humble, hand-crafted nature of his garments, leaving edges raw or adding heavy distressing; at his first runway show in 2014, he said he was going for “destroyed elegance.” But now that patchworking and upcycling—or at least the look of upcycling—has gone mainstream, he’s felt compelled to go the other way. Spring 2022 marks a pronounced aesthetic shift toward a cleaner, more refined sensibility, one he’s now calling “relaxed elegance.”
It may be best symbolized by an accessory Lauren avoided for years: ties. Several looks were styled with a wide satin tie upcycled from varsity jackets, and the effect wasn’t kitschy or ironic; it was quite polished. With a shell jacket constructed from denim overalls, the tie had an elevating quality; with a blazer and wrap-effect trousers, it completed Lauren’s version of “the new suit.” Other looks sans tie had a similar air of formality: cotton wrap coats were cut with tails; a tuxedo shirt flowed out past the knees; and new tux jackets came with shiny nylon lapels and a range of botanical tints. (The rosy pink came from matter root, while the sage green was courtesy of pomegranate peels.)
It isn’t just that Lauren wanted to distinguish his label from the glut of patchworked and deconstructed collections out there (though there is something to be said for clothing that doesn’t “look” as rigorously sustainable as it is). As pandemic headlines declared the death of tailoring and athleisure forever, he was predicting a return to refinement. That hardly means actual tuxedos and ball gowns; we’re in a “dress up” moment, but Lauren had our competing desires for comfort, ease, and timelessness in mind, too. We expect a lot from fashion these days: Can you wear it to work, to an event, or out on the weekend—and for years to come? That’s what strikes you about so many of these pieces: They’re casual, yet special; versatile, but distinctive, with room for your own style and interpretation. That each one will be handmade and one-of-a-kind is just icing on the cake.
