Deveaux (Q2917)
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Deveaux is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Deveaux |
Deveaux is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
The idea of suiting as the basis of a modular wardrobe is a recurring one this pre-fall season, but it’s always been part of Deveaux’s remit. The American sportswear idea, said co-founder Andrea Tsao, is “something that we’re really trying to do, [as are] a bunch of younger, independent New York brands.”Deveaux is entering the new year in a streamlined fashion, the result of a kind of rebrand that started last year to move the company, related Tsao, “away from chasing the kind of youth factor that seems to work really well for other brands, but not necessarily for us….We wanted to make sure that we doubled down on some of the core principles of the brand, amd what that ends up meaning is that it’s very product based.”Less has always been more at Deveaux, a brand which has consistently leaned into workwear, easy tailoring, and a minimal palette. Work-, camp-, and button-down shirts are core pieces in the current collection. Wardrobe classics they might be, but Deveaux offers them with the proverbial “twist.” The men’s camp shirt features slits; an oxford-style topper has wrist ties. For pre-fall 2023 there’s a focus on materiality. Design director Awnny LaPlume explained that the team worked with natural fibers as well as recycled ones from mills that limit water use and carbon emissions. What looks like denim is actually a twill fabric that’s been indigo dyed; elsewhere, the leather-look designs are made from a water-repellent coated fabric.The full pant that is everywhere this season was present in Deveaux’s offering, as were peplums and skirts-over-pants approach to layering. One of the elements that stands out in the women’s collection is the longer proportions, the other is the drapey feeling of many of the fabrics, which lend the smart-casual lineup a sense of ease. Deveaux also entered the handbag game this season with two made-in-Italy styles, both structured. One was inspired by a cylindrical back support pillow; the other is tulip shaped, with side zips that alter the silhouette.There are some pieces that are shared across the women’s and men’s collections, but the latter pushes the envelope a bit more. Semi-sheer shirts and curved-seam pants are anything but trad, even if they don’t scream. As Tsao notes, “I think the woman and the man who are wearing Deveaux aren’t always the loudest people in the room.” That doesn’t mean they fade into the background, however.
“Maybe I’m biased,” said Tsao, but “I think selling a collection that’s quiet is harder because you’re saying, ‘Hey, here’s a lot of clothes that might look like a lot of clothes that already exist.’ But for us, it’s important to say, ‘Hey, this is what we stand by, and if these are the types of clothes we’re looking for, there are people who are looking for them too.”
12 January 2023
The idea of suiting as the basis of a modular wardrobe is a recurring one this pre-fall season, but it’s always been part of Deveaux’s remit. The American sportswear idea, said co-founder Andrea Tsao, is “something that we’re really trying to do, [as are] a bunch of younger, independent New York brands.”Deveaux is entering the new year in a streamlined fashion, the result of a kind of rebrand that started last year to move the company, related Tsao, “away from chasing the kind of youth factor that seems to work really well for other brands, but not necessarily for us….We wanted to make sure that we doubled down on some of the core principles of the brand, amd what that ends up meaning is that it’s very product based.”Less has always been more at Deveaux, a brand which has consistently leaned into workwear, easy tailoring, and a minimal palette. Work-, camp-, and button-down shirts are core pieces in the current collection. Wardrobe classics they might be, but Deveaux offers them with the proverbial “twist.” The men’s camp shirt features slits; an oxford-style topper has wrist ties. For pre-fall 2023 there’s a focus on materiality. Design director Awnny LaPlume explained that the team worked with natural fibers as well as recycled ones from mills that limit water use and carbon emissions. What looks like denim is actually a twill fabric that’s been indigo dyed; elsewhere, the leather-look designs are made from a water-repellent coated fabric.The full pant that is everywhere this season was present in Deveaux’s offering, as were peplums and skirts-over-pants approach to layering. One of the elements that stands out in the women’s collection is the longer proportions, the other is the drapey feeling of many of the fabrics, which lend the smart-casual lineup a sense of ease. Deveaux also entered the handbag game this season with two made-in-Italy styles, both structured. One was inspired by a cylindrical back support pillow; the other is tulip shaped, with side zips that alter the silhouette.There are some pieces that are shared across the women’s and men’s collections, but the latter pushes the envelope a bit more. Semi-sheer shirts and curved-seam pants are anything but trad, even if they don’t scream. As Tsao notes, “I think the woman and the man who are wearing Deveaux aren’t always the loudest people in the room.” That doesn’t mean they fade into the background, however.
“Maybe I’m biased,” said Tsao, but “I think selling a collection that’s quiet is harder because you’re saying, ‘Hey, here’s a lot of clothes that might look like a lot of clothes that already exist.’ But for us, it’s important to say, ‘Hey, this is what we stand by, and if these are the types of clothes we’re looking for, there are people who are looking for them too.”
12 January 2023
Aiming to create a full-circle moment, Deveaux head designer Andrea Tsao chose the same location (Spring Studios) for the brand’s return to the runway after three years. This season also marked the relaunch of menswear, which is where the brand started when it was confounded by Taso and Matthew Breen back in 2015. (Womenswear debuted in 2018.) What hasn’t changed is the made in America label’s allegiance to New York, and to functional dressing.This was addressed by the cargo theme that ran throughout the show. Tsao’s take on the omnipresent trend was to extend pockets past hems, making them flap. One pair of men’s pants had pockets that extended from either side of the waist that could be worn loose or snapped securely to the leg, a concept that was more complicated than it needed to be.The designer’s translation of a workwear jumpsuit into a fitted and tailored full look that could work for the office or evening was inspired. Tsao is among the designers bringing the skirt suit back, at last. She also returned to the ripe-for-revival 2010s trend of layering a skirt or dress (in this case a slip style) over pants.“This whole summer felt like a big revitalization in New York,” Tsao said, “so we really wanted to try and capture, in nine minutes of a show, what a summer in New York might feel like.” One way she recreated that happy, sunlit mood, and various ways of enjoying it, was by using a very literal water print. The blue-sky feeling was best captured in the palette, featuring various hues of turquoise, and by the amazing soundtrack that featured city sounds and songs about the Big Apple.Tsao also expressed an upbeat attitude with an unexpected and extended offering of party dresses that were dressier and more conventionally feminine than Deveaux has ever been, in a crinkle fabric in vibrant hues as well as black and white. Some of these had peplums, and a few were accessorized with tulle gloves, which gave them a dated air, but then Tsao said she was thinking of summertime in the city “through the decades, not necessarily present day.” This collection might have been better served by a different format. The sterility of the show space stood in contrast to Deveaux’s made-for-action designs and the hustle-bustle of city life, which kept on keeping on as the models circled the space.
14 September 2022
Tommy Ton has left the building. The street style photographer turned creative director did a lot to elevate Deveaux’s profile during his four years at the brand. With Ton at the helm, there were pre-Covid NYFW runway shows and supermodel cameos in lookbooks. He left to refocus on his photography career. As for Deveaux, its designer and founder Andrea Tsao says the design team is enjoying the restart. Come September, there will be a fresh logo and a relaunched e-commerce site.Like other labels, Deveaux had fallen into doing wardrobe basics during the pandemic. “We tried to be everything to everyone, and were more focused on the intermediaries [meaning buyers] than the end users [or customers],” Tsao explained. “We’re a New York brand, and dressing New York women means Deveaux has to be ‘everyday,’ but we’re going to see if we can be bold about it.” The clearest way Tsao and team went about being bold is by designing a graphic abstract print (Rachel Whiteread with her use of negative space was a touchstone) in vibrant blue, brown, and black. It almost resembles camouflage, but in it, you’d be the most eye-catching woman in any room.Utility is still important at Deveaux. Parkas come with interior straps so they can be worn slung over the shoulders if you overheat, and a trench is bisected at the midriff, so you split it apart and wear the cropped jacket and/or skirt solo. But Tsao upped the whimsy factor: full skirts are color-blocked and cut asymmetrically, evening dresses are made in a technical nylon for a wear-anywhere, almost sporty vibe. The idea is to prioritize creativity and optimism as they work on shoe and bag launches, possibly to come before the end of this year.
8 June 2022
Predictions of Instagram’s inevitable decline notwithstanding, fashion still lives for it. Sparkly, skimpy, neon-bright clothes are trending precisely because they register on the grid. And anecdotally at least, big stores only want to bet on sure things, pieces that an influencer can push on their feed.Deveaux’s Tommy Ton and Andrea Tsao are hightailing it in the opposite direction. Their new collection for fall is as unplugged as they come, with pioneer-woman shapes, simple fabrications (cotton, in particular), and solid colors in a palette of neutrals and deep jewel tones. “It’s a reaction to everything that’s happening—the metaverse, Y2K culture,” said Ton. “We don’t want to chase youth anymore.”To be fair, Deveaux has never been about the latest It trend. Ton is famously a Philo-head, and his taste leans grown-up, understated, and minimal. The brand’s customers will be drawn to a cotton prairie dress that Ton and Tsao elevated with pleat work at the waist and shoulders. A cotton tuxedo shirt with similar pleating details and exaggerated volumes looked smart with cropped pants. They used poly plissé for a strappy slip dress and a camisole and midi-skirt set; it looked like it could have been tulle from a distance, but it’s sturdier stuff.Preciousness doesn’t interest them much either. They make no bones about prioritizing practicality and everyday style. One particularly clever way they went about it: by designing a “suit” out of a pullover jacket (more of a tunic, really, with a scoop neckline) and flared trousers. Instagram shminstagram; it would cut a fine figure on the mean streets of Manhattan.
12 February 2022
Tommy Ton can clock a look from down the block, but shooting street style for as long as he has, he’s come to appreciate gestures far more than brand signifiers. As creative director of Deveaux for the past four years, he and designer Andrea Tsao have never been tempted to put a logo on anything they’ve produced, and they’re not about to start.In their new showroom on the border of SoHo and Chinatown, Ton was talking about the way certain clothes catch the wind and pointing to a cape-back top they made in a ivory poly plissé that, should a breeze stir up, will do just that. He spent a significant amount of time in California this year, and he said it affected his thinking on fabrics. In addition to that luscious pleated polyester, there’s a cotton gauze and a linen-cotton blend, all of which they chose for their lightness and wearability.Adjustability was also on their minds as they worked on pre-fall. A dress with two sets of drawstrings, one at the shoulder and the other at the opposite hip, can be worn fitted or loose, which changes its attitude, and a zip-front parka comes with a modifiable capelet collar for multiple looks in one. A three-piece suit inverts that idea; it’s actually two pieces—the vest is attached to the inside of the jacket. They built a cardigan coat the same way, creating a layered effect without being weighed down by multiple items.Shortly after New Year’s and pending how the Omicron variant impacts the men’s collection schedule, Ton is headed back out to shoot more street style. There’s a lot of performative dressing at the shows, but Ton and Tsao remain more interested in practicality and ease.
13 December 2021
Tommy Ton was back in action during New York Fashion Week, shooting the scene with his fellow street style photographers. What the street style scene would look like this season was an open question: Would people want to show off—to flex—after 18 months of digital collections? Or would they adopt a more low-key attitude in keeping with the lower-key lives they led during the pandemic? Where things netted out depended on the show and often the generation of the showgoer. At Deveaux, which released a lookbook instead of doing a presentation, Ton and his partner Andrea Tsao are on the side of grown-up ease.“We were thinking about this idea of separation from the everyday, what we yearn for: a life outside of the city. Thinking about the women I photograph, but in their country houses, having this pastoral, effortless life,” said Ton. “The clothes are freer, lighter, crisper.” Case in point is the white cotton dress at the start of this slideshow. Ton and Tsao aren’t in thrall to trends, but they aren’t blind to them either, so it’s cut with a relaxed asymmetric skirt and a graceful, clavicle-baring neckline. The sage green cocoon-shaped number that follows it is even easier, generously cut with convenient pockets below a softly tied waist. Other cotton dresses have other thoughtful details: side panels that tie at the front to create an apron-like effect, or a cut-out that exposes a sensual flash of lower back. Rounding out the offering is a subtle vessel print and a sheer windowpane check; both are used for similarly subtle styles.It’s tempting to look at the collection and see a disavowal of capital-F fashion and the pics Ton has been posting to Instagram from the last few days of shows—it reads so opposite the more-is-more, head-to-toe looks that he helped popularize in the peak street style years of a decade or so ago. If it is, it’s also a sensitive post-pandemic recalibration; Ton has always picked up on the subtle details. Meaning, we’re just as likely to spot the clavicle-baring shift outside next September’s shows as we are to see it on a weekend retreat in the country.
19 September 2021
In years past, Tommy Ton would’ve been heading to Milan and Paris right about now to photograph street style at the men’s collections. Instead, he’s in Napa Valley, California, celebrating the wedding of Deveaux’s designer Andrea Tsao. The change of events feels symbolic of the work he’s doing as creative director of this label.On a Zoom call before his trip, he talked about functionality and ease. He said he’d been looking at ’90s silhouettes, like Gwyneth Paltrow’s sleek green knits fromGreat Expectationsand Jennifer Tilly in herBoundtank top. “Back then it was about feeling good in your body, not looking good for Instagram,” he explained.The rise of street style photography in the late ’00s played a part in the development of the influencer culture we’re still living with today: the endless selfies, the staged photo shoots one stumbles upon in Williamsburg and SoHo. There’s no turning back the clock on the internet or social media, but it does feel instructive that an arbiter like Ton has rejected the performative fashion of recent years in favor of making clothes that feel more personal.Will the pandemic accelerate this trend? It’s just as likely that we’ll see the opposite happen; headlines at the fall shows back in March announced glamour’s return. But there’s an audience for Deveaux’s more subdued fare. Dresses featuring adjustable waistlines and shirts whose sleeves can be zipped off at the elbow point to the line’s inbuilt versatility, as does a new twinset in the form of a tube top and shrug that got styled in multiple fresh ways in the look book.A V-neck dress with a built-in bralette is no reproduction of Paltrow’s famousGreat Expectationsknits, but it treats exposed skin in the same alluringly offhand way. In the men’s offering there’s a pair of trousers with a detachable kilt. It feels very much a product of this time. “Men are becoming more liberated in their choices,” Ton remarked. Feeling good in your body is a guy thing too.
7 June 2021
In years past, Tommy Ton would’ve been heading to Milan and Paris right about now to photograph street style at the men’s collections. Instead, he’s in Napa Valley, California, celebrating the wedding of Deveaux’s designer Andrea Tsao. The change of events feels symbolic of the work he’s doing as creative director of this label.On a Zoom call before his trip, he talked about functionality and ease. He said he’d been looking at ’90s silhouettes, like Gwyneth Paltrow’s sleek green knits fromGreat Expectationsand Jennifer Tilly in herBoundtank top. “Back then it was about feeling good in your body, not looking good for Instagram,” he explained.The rise of street style photography in the late ’00s played a part in the development of the influencer culture we’re still living with today: the endless selfies, the staged photo shoots one stumbles upon in Williamsburg and SoHo. There’s no turning back the clock on the internet or social media, but it does feel instructive that an arbiter like Ton has rejected the performative fashion of recent years in favor of making clothes that feel more personal.Will the pandemic accelerate this trend? It’s just as likely that we’ll see the opposite happen; headlines at the fall shows back in March announced glamour’s return. But there’s an audience for Deveaux’s more subdued fare. Dresses featuring adjustable waistlines and shirts whose sleeves can be zipped off at the elbow point to the line’s inbuilt versatility, as does a new twinset in the form of a tube top and shrug that got styled in multiple fresh ways in the look book.A V-neck dress with a built-in bralette is no reproduction of Paltrow’s famousGreat Expectationsknits, but it treats exposed skin in the same alluringly offhand way. In the men’s offering there’s a pair of trousers with a detachable kilt. It feels very much a product of this time. “Men are becoming more liberated in their choices,” Ton remarked. Feeling good in your body is a guy thing too.
7 June 2021
We’re living in a TikTok world, one that values instantaneousness above almost all else, but Tommy Ton and Andrea Tsao’s instincts are telling them to slow down. Deveaux is moving to a pre-season presentation schedule, and combining two seasons into one—in this case pre-fall and fall 2021. “It’s a strategic decision,” Ton explained. “It’s just too expensive to show four times a year, and we don’t have the mental and physical capacity to keep churning out collection after collection.”As we round the corner on this pandemic year, we’re likely to see other brands breaking away from the show schedule. It’s an open question if the fracturing of the runway system will negatively impact small brands like this one, who’ve traditionally benefited from the halo effect of being grouped together with fashion’s household names. But creatively speaking Ton said he was more than satisfied with this collection; in fact he called it his favorite so far.That’s an interesting observation. Ton became the industry’s top street style photographer during his years shooting for Style.com.Anti-fashionisn’t the right word to describe this Deveaux collection, but there’s a disavowal of much of what once characterized a typical street style photo. You won’t find any logos or bright colors, and not much in the way of prints.Instead, Ton and Tsao focused their energies on sourcing a vegan leather with a surprisingly believable lambskin-like texture; cutting a pantsuit without shoulder pads or a lining so it wears like pajamas; and building a knitwear program that includes a very cozy-looking cashmere-wool bouclé. Ton and Tsao are getting behind the unisex concept. The twill pantsuit has crossover appeal, and they’re cutting the vegan leather boxer shorts for both genders. Those might turn on the TikTok kids, but winning on social media isn’t on the Deveaux agenda. Comfort, fabric-feel, and simplicity are.
15 December 2020
In Deveaux’s new look book the model wears creative director Tommy Ton’s rubber Tevas. The point, Ton said, was as much about endorsing comfort as it was embracing uncertainty. The pandemic has been challenging on independent brands. Ton and Andrea Tsao, Deveaux’s designer, have managed by being responsive to customer feedback and getting behind the notion of simplicity. “That’s the lifestyle we want to live, Ton said over Zoom. “We didn’t want anything too over-the-top.”A cropped cardigan, for example, has been cut with a half camisole attached because Ton and Tsao discovered that their client prefers not to expose her midriff. The Deveaux woman also likes a two-in-one, so they designed a double-layer dress featuring a floral slip over a black shift that can actually be worn three ways. Ton said he worked hard on getting the cut and fit right on the collection’s straight-leg white jeans and the cool results reflected that effort.Tsao is expecting her first child, so her wardrobe requirements are newly specific. You’ll notice several cotton popover tops that can accommodate a pregnancy while still communicating that the woman who wears them likes fashion. That juxtaposition is what made this collection feel timely. It was stylish, but rather effortlessly so; clothes shouldn’t be hard work in this moment.
12 October 2020
When Tommy Ton joined Deveaux as creative director two years ago, this New York label was a menswear line. Today, its business is 95% women’s wear. All those years shooting street style outside the shows for Style.com have paid off. Ton says observation is only part of it, though; careful listening to what his friends, customers, and friends who have become customers want is also essential. He hears women ask for sleeves that cover their upper arms, pants without pleats (which can be hip-widening), and skirts with specific made-to-be-flattering proportions. That may sound dry, but Ton enthuses about such details. He’s not in this for the runway glory, he seems to truly enjoy the nitty gritty of making clothes.After a couple of seasons of shows in their home base of New York, Ton and Deveaux’s designer Andrea Tsao opted for a showroom presentation in Paris. The attractions of this brand aren’t editorial, their efforts are aimed not at magazine pages but squarely at women’s everyday wardrobes. So this was a sound business decision, and it also gave Ton the chance to discuss fabric choices and other design moves. As people running a small company, Ton and Tsao are practicing sustainability by using fabrics across categories. This season that means they made a shirt dress and a poncho anorak hybrid in the same khaki shade of water-resistant cotton nylon—pragmatic for the brand and for their often on-the-road customers. Zip-front boots made in collaboration with Malone Souliers had a hardy appeal.The strongest statements were found among the outerwear. A channel quilted sleeveless coat could indeed catch a photographer’s eye, and there was something similarly arresting about a prodigious marled rib scarf with a neck hole that ensures it stays securely in place. Practicality with a side of drama—it’s a formula that women really respond to.
1 March 2020
It’s been two years since Tommy Ton joined Deveaux as creative director. The brand’s profile has risen precipitously since the street-style photographer signed on, but it’s still a newish arrangement, and Ton and Andrea Tsao, Deveaux’s designer and cofounder, were in a reflective mood at a pre-fall appointment. “We’ve been evaluating what our strengths are and focusing on what’s sold well, but we also wanted to have more fun with this collection,” Ton said. Managing those multiple, contrary instincts takes discipline. Kudos to Ton and Tsao for managing to do so while producing some of New York’s most subtly cool clothes.Tailoring has proven to be one of Deveaux’s early successes, so they returned to the subject this season, only this time around, going on feedback from customers, they updated their silhouettes to be more body-conscious. A wrap jacket in stretch bouclé fit sleekly underneath a sculptural peacoat in a snakeskin wool jacquard. Another category they have a good handle on is knits. It’s a crowded field, but they’ve got new things to say, among them a polo sweater whose collar can button all the way up the chin so it doubles as a turtleneck. “You know I love a twofer,” Ton said. Also worth mentioning is an unstructured parka in waterproof tech fabric with a faux-shearling lining. Its easy beltable shape is the result of people watching; Ton admired the cocooning oversize shape on certain street-style stars.The unexpected fun came in the form of the colorful patchworked stripes Ton and Tsao printed on organza (for a camp shirt) and silk charmeuse (for a bias-cut short-sleeve dress), along with another print of color-blocked marble and onyx. These added verve to the mostly neutral lineup, and that’s an agenda they should keep pushing as they continue to grow.
13 January 2020
It's been two years since Tommy Ton joined Deveaux as creative director. The brand’s profile has risen precipitously since the street style photographer signed on, but it’s still a newish arrangement, and Ton and Andrea Tsao, Deveaux’s designer and co-founder, were in a reflective mood at a pre-fall appointment. “We’ve been evaluating what our strengths are and focusing on what’s sold well, but we also wanted to have more fun with this collection,” Ton said. Managing those multiple, contrary instincts takes discipline. Kudos to Ton and Tsao for managing to do so while producing some of New York’s most subtly cool clothes.Tailoring has proven to be one of Deveaux’s early successes, so they returned to the subject this season, only this time around, going on feedback from customers, they updated their silhouettes to be more body-conscious. A wrap jacket in stretch bouclé fit sleekly underneath a sculptural peacoat in a snakeskin wool jacquard. Another category they have a good handle on is knits. It’s a crowded field, but they’ve got new things to say, among them a polo sweater whose collar buttoned all the way up the chin so it doubles as a turtleneck. “You know I love a two-fer,” Ton said. Also worth mentioning is an unstructured parka in waterproof tech fabric with a faux shearling lining. Its easy beltable shape is the result of people-watching; Ton admired the cocooning oversize shape on certain street style stars.The unexpected fun came in the form of the colorful patch-worked stripes Ton and Tsao printed on organza (for a camp shirt) and silk charmeuse (for a bias-cut short-sleeved dress), along with another print of color-blocked marble and onyx. These added verve to the mostly neutral lineup, and that’s an agenda they should keep pushing as they continue to grow.
13 January 2020
On the runways, things have a way of happening in a certain predictable order. The lights dim, “uncross your legs!” rings out from the photo pit, the music hums, the models emerge single file,strut strut strut, and it’s over. At Deveaux’s Spring 2020 show, creative director Tommy Ton served up something a little different. Instead of a model, out came a live band that began playing Janet Jackson’s “Love Will Never Do (Without You).” Minutes later, when the models did hit the catwalk, they were of all ages and body types, twirling and shimmying and smiling. Then a marching band stomped in mid-way through the show to really bring the house down. Who could have possibly guessed that we would be treated to all this at 9 a.m. on a Sunday?And who could have guessed that any of this spectacle and grooviness would make sense with Deveaux’s wardrobe of refined essentials? The brand, as revitalized by Ton, has specialized in neutral-toned, elevated pragmatism, using cotton canvases as a base for workwear-inspired suiting and turning bias-draped silks into cooly, sexy slip dresses. Exuberance and heat weren’t really in the Deveaux vernacular before. But for Spring, Ton has taken stock of his friends and clients and the way they really let loose when they dance. That freewheeling energy was reflected in the presentation of the collection, obviously, but it was also there in the garments.Deveaux’s staple straight-leg pants were spliced with a half-skirt draped over one leg for a little flutter as a woman walks (or cha-chas), while some of this season’s best dresses were backless and full-skirted, perfect for swooshing on the dance floor. The brand’s second-ever print, an illustrated mash-up of popular vacation locales, appeared on silk dresses and a pajama short set. The point, Ton said, was that you should be able to feel like you’re on vacation wherever you are. The brilliance of Deveaux’s collection was that, in 33 looks, Ton created clothing that would make you feel fully prepared for anything: vacation, work, or even a 9 a.m. dance party.
9 September 2019
Not long after Tommy Ton landed at Deveaux, the New York menswear brand added womenswear to its offering. The line quickly began outpacing the men’s, probably because it falls somewhere along the Eileen Fisher–The Row continuum, and there’s a lot of interest in the polished ease of that minimalist aesthetic at the moment. With men, streetwear still dominates, despite talk of the revival of tailoring.For the guy who’s aging out of the streetwear look (waiting in line to buy drops of sneakers and T-shirts is kids’ stuff, no?), Ton and his co-designer, Andrea Tsao, have a few compelling propositions. One is their first-ever print, a swirling marble on silk that they cut into boxy button-downs with strong collars. Ton said the print came from his interest in “curated interiors.” Another, a navy silk jumpsuit accompanied by a matching robe coat, is informed by interiors, too, in the way that it telegraphs an enviable sense of relaxed composition. The jumpsuit would make a fine addition to the womenswear collection.At the beginning, there was more crossover between Deveaux’s menswear and womenswear, but as the collections have grown, they’ve diversified. One thing the gals got this season that the guys would surely be into: the label’s new tailored jeans. The chalky-white denim coat they did put in the lineup will only get better as it softens and ages.
14 June 2019
When Tommy Ton started taking street style photos outside the runway shows a dozen years ago, models, as a rule, were twiggy teenagers, and more often than not, they were white. And no one was talking about modest clothing.The widening of fashion’s collective consciousness has been slow, but progress is being made. The runways may not yet reflect the world as it is, with its diversity of color, age, and size, but they’re more representative than at any time in the past. Ton’s street style photos and those of others like him have played their part in fashion’s awakening, alongside the rise of Instagram, the presence of female designers in top jobs, and the consciousness raising of #MeToo and Time’s Up. He has an eye for “real women” with real style, not influencers in head-to-toe runway looks, and his taste runs to the minimal, though it’s not strict. Phoebe Philo’s Céline is a touchstone.Ton has brought that sensibility with him to Deveaux, the New York menswear label where he took the creative director role a year and a half ago and quickly launched women’s; it’s now bigger than the men’s offering. “The clothing is grounded in reality,” he said of the brand’s first Resort collection. (He’s had it photographed on a 50-something yoga instructor and a 30-something stylist to prove the point.) He added this: “We want to be a modest label.”While there’s a skin-baring one-shoulder dress and another strappy number with a single swooping “wing” in the back, by and large these pieces would meet the criteria for Net-a-Porter’s new modest clothing section. At Bergdorf Goodman, the label’s exclusive New York department store partner, it will hang next to The Row, Brunello Cucinelli, and other grown-up labels. A safari “shacket” that flared out below a slightly nipped waist was a nice development in the tailoring category, as was a pantsuit cut from raw Japanese denim with vaguely Western styling. Also thoughtful: a two-in-one nylon trench whose sleeves zip off to create a vest. Of the wide selection of “grounded in reality” dresses—“sounds mundane, but we find them inspiring,” Ton said—the most striking was the T-shirt caftan in white cotton ponte.
12 June 2019
Tommy Ton has been to enough fashion shows to know that when he staged his first for Deveaux, the New York label where he’s been creative director for a little over a year, he didn’t want an old-school up-the-runway-and-back format. Instead, with Henri Scars Struck on the piano, his multigenerational models (including a white-haired gentleman 82 years young) milled about the space exchanging glances, embracing, and walking arm in arm in an evocation of what happens on the street. Stephen Galloway did the choreography. It was an apt concept for Deveaux, where Ton has described the aesthetic as “beautiful everyday pieces with a gestural, loose fit.”For close followers of Ton’s post-street style work, this collection will look familiar. It’s a reprise of the men’s lineup he and Deveaux cofounder Andrea Tsao showed in January, only this time both women and men wore the clothes. In fact, the collection is almost fully interchangeable, with only the graceful bias-cut acetate dresses and scarf-neck blouses reading as categorically for-females, though time will probably prove that assumption wrong. Ton is very fond of a tossed-over-the-shoulder gesture; one novelty here were the cashmere crewnecks with built-in asymmetrical capes. His suiting is minimal—there are no visible closures or hardware, for example—but it’s not clinical. That’s down to the workwear inspiration behind the trousers and the jackets’ relaxed, easy fit, a sensibility that extends to Deveaux’s outerwear, which features sloping shoulders and sashed waists. The standout coats were single-breasted and plaid, inset with solid panels loosely tracing the side seams. Ton showed one on a man and the other on a woman, driving home his one-for-all message.
10 February 2019
There are advantages to being the preeminent street style photographer and a creative director at an up-and-coming label. Having clocked the renewed interest in tailoring outside the shows—and on the runways—Tommy Ton has added suiting to the Deveaux Fall lineup. Not “broken” suits, as he and designer Andrea Tsao have done in the recent past, but jackets and pants that match. Ton’s take on the traditional two-piece is not all that traditional, however. The jacket is buttonless (its closures are on the inside) and the trousers fit a little like straight-leg jeans. Its color is a steely gray that reads a bit lilac in certain light.Ton and Tsao haven’t entirely rewritten the Deveaux playbook, though. And that’s a good thing. They practice a sort of relaxed, laid-back elegance, the kind that pairs a heathery cashmere crewneck with built-in wrap scarf and sturdy carpenter pants, or a saffron shacket with bordeaux cargos. Much attention is paid to color and texture—don’t miss the “crimped” corduroy in rich autumnal shades. But undoubtedly, they’re pushing themselves and forging new territory. There was no shortage of interesting outerwear. Three highlights: a charcoal teddy fur coat (“It’s faux, so it’s really light, good for the airplane,” says Ton); a double-face wool coat in camel with another one of those clever, convenient wrap scarves; and a color-blocked robe coat that combines plaid and bands of solids. The other thing this top street style photog knows: The coat makes the picture.
14 January 2019
It was February when Tommy Ton launched his first collection at Deveaux, the New York brand founded by Andrea Tsao and Matthew Breen. A little over six months later, the menswear label is introducing its first women’s line. The street style photographer turned creative director moves fast. When this reporter asked about the shoes and the earrings the models wore at today’s presentation, Ton credited H&M and Mango respectively. “We’d love to design accessories and jewelry,” he said. Just give him time.From Ton’s arrival, he was talking about unisex cuts and wardrobe-sharing; he made his point in June by casting a female model, Janice Alida, to wear his Spring ’19 menswear. Deveaux’s debut womenswear is indeed a spin-off of men’s; the double-face wool of an oversize navy suit and the cotton twill of pleated trousers and easy A-line skirts were lifted from the guys’ line. A model wore a pair of track pants in the same translucent taffeta as the shirt Ton was sporting. The difference from men to women was the addition of pieces like an ivory hammered-silk scarf-neck blouse and an open-back slip dress. Ton said he paid close attention to feedback from store buyers and his fashionable friends. The consensus was they wanted pieces with a more sensual, tactile allure, but Deveaux remains minimal in spirit.Ton showed the collection on a diverse cast that included non-model “real women” and a wide range of ages. He called it a statement on timeless beauty, but it also pointed up the collection’s multigenerational appeal. Call it a lesson for all the street photographers out there this week: There’s no age limit on personal style.
10 September 2018
A trip to the Faroe Islands inspired Tommy Ton’s second collection as creative director of Deveaux. The North Atlantic archipelago seems like an unlikely starting point for Ton and this independent New York brand. Fishermen outnumber street style stars by, oh let’s say, 50,000 to one. In fact, Ton visited the Faroes last year for the Blue Fashion Challenge, a sustainable design competition, and he said he was moved by the one-with-nature feeling he experienced while there—that, and the fishermen’s utilitarian manner of dress. He thought he could apply it to Deveaux, where he has been working with the idea of uniforms.Ton is a big proponent of a daily uniform, which is not as paradoxical as it sounds coming fromthestreet style arbiter of the last decade. He appreciates a woman or a man with a defined sense of personal style. Designers Margaret Howell and Stefano Pilati came up in conversation, and if you know anything about their understated, elegant, yet oftentimes idiosyncratic approaches to dressing you’ll get a sense of what Ton is up to at Deveaux. For Spring, the fit is easeful, the fabrics are hardy, and the cuts often inventive. Shirting is an important category for the brand, and Ton and designer Andrea Tsao came up with a couple of interesting novelties, like a striped button-down-cum-hoodie and another shirt cut with the waistband of a Harrington jacket. As elsewhere, the suit here is “broken,” meaning untraditional, meaning the jacket and the pant don’t match.As for the Faroe fisherman, their outfits informed the collection’s sturdy carpenter pants, and, to a lesser extent, the synthetic raincoats. Miuccia Prada was a muse of sorts, too, Ton said, quoting her famous line about working with materials that disgust you. He made that synthetic raincoat palatable, and chenille polo shirts, too, which might be the bigger achievement.This men’s collection was photographed on a woman, the model Janice Alida. Beyond utility, what he called a “two for one” mentality is the other thing Ton is working on here, which is both timely and ambitious. And rather sustainable; the couple that wears together, saves together.
19 June 2018
Tommy Ton has spent the past decade of his life outside runway shows, taking street style photos, first for Style.com and later for top fashion brands. His stamp of approval has turned It girls (and not a few It boys) into influencers with super-lucrative collaboration deals. Now he’s turning the tables, but not with one of the name-in-lights brands you might expect. Late last year he signed on as artistic director at the two-year-old made-in-America label Deveaux. Designer Andrea Tsao and her partner, founder Matthew Breen, caught the attention of Totokaelo, Fred Segal, and United Arrows with their menswear collections. Together with Ton they’re growing Deveaux into a unisex line, with pieces cut for men and graded down or with slight modifications here and there for women.“We’re trying to create beautiful everyday pieces with a gestural, loose fit,” Ton said at a showroom appointment late last month. Often, he explained, when he finds himself asking a woman about a jacket or coat he likes the looks of, he hears that she has borrowed it from her husband or boyfriend. The collection is also informed by his appreciation for Céline. “I’m gutted about Phoebe,” Ton said, repeating an oft-expressed sentiment in the wake of designer Phoebe Philo’s departure from the LVMH brand.Bold, unexpected colors and rich textures are two hallmarks of the new Deveaux collection, with unexpected design details coming in a close third. Pants are slit like tear-aways but only to the upper calf, and a robe coat is likewise split up the side seams for easy access to trouser pockets. When a model strode across the room in a slouchy pantsuit and sturdy oxford shoes, Ton asked, “Can’t you see Gaia Repossi [the French jewelry designer] in this?” Sure, or the Slovenian-Italian stylist Ada Kokosar. Deveaux’s sweaters, in particular, look good. Ton’s favorite piece is a ribbed cardigan that nearly grazes his ankles. Other styles make inventive use of the reverse “wrong” side of the knit.Reflecting on the experience of artistic directing, Ton said with a laugh, “Back when I was 13, I really wanted to do this, but it’s a lot of work.” Clearly, though, he’s enjoying it; on the day of Vogue Runway’s appointment, he baked a carrot cake from a recipe he discovered on Chrissy Teigen’s Twitter feed for Deveaux’s small Tribeca office. “I’m helping Andrea and Matthew see the big picture,” he said. As for Tsao? “Tommy is pushing us. It’s great to have another creative person in here.
” When asked if the relationship is permanent, they both answered in the affirmative.
7 February 2018