Marissa Webb (Q3303)
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Marissa Webb is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Marissa Webb |
Marissa Webb is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Sitting in her Soho studio in front of a rack filled with her Spring 2020 collection, Marissa Webb was pointing to the top button of her jeans. They were almost grazing her rib cage—for this designer, high waist is never high enough. Webb has always done things her way; from season to season she stands by her personal convictions. She believes in a very full, very mix-and-matchable and easy wardrobe for day and night, but always with a sultry, tomboy bend. This season, the clothes were iterations on some of her classics: cropped and belted military trousers with angular cargo pockets, a zip-up romper, tailored blazers, and structured skirts and shorts with her signature high waist.The preppy button-down shirtdresses in creamy yellow and soft blue were the pieces that stood here this season, namely because they were less edgy and a little more in line with what she used to do as head of womenswear and accessories design at J.Crew. Webb’s résumé includes stints as an intern at Donna Karan and Polo Ralph Lauren, then head of womenswear design at J.Crew and Banana Republic. She’s well-versed in American sportswear at a moment when not so many designers do it well anymore. We’d like to see her expand on this part of her aesthetic and show off more of her expert tailoring skills.
5 September 2019
Marissa Webb has a hard time describing herself as feminine. At heart, she is a tomboy, in comfy paperbag-waist pants and a T-shirt, a fashionable woman who is sweet but sarcastic with a penchant for cursing. Edgy prettiness is something she has always brought to her eponymous label, via clothes that are a little tough, but with a touch of girly woven into the seams. This season, Webb went full force with this idea, presenting a lineup filled with juxtaposing angles that somehow fit together quite seamlessly.A cheery, lady-friendly floral wrap dress filled one niche, while her familiar paperbag pants in black leather fulfilled the tomboy quota. A black and white tie-dyed T-shirt printed with a bull skull motif likewise belonged to this latter category, but here her rock ’n’ roll aesthetic went a bit too far. A pair of snakeskin trousers were also a bit of a miss. On the other hand, a zebra-printed minidress held its own, with its balance of soft and fierce. Other strong pieces included a nicely tailored short suit and a chic black belted top with puffed-up sleeves.
31 May 2019
Marissa Webb has one wall of her studio decorated with images of stylish women she loves. She refers to them as her “icons and muses,” and they include Jane Birkin, Cindy Crawford, and Michelle Pfeiffer inScarface. Madonna is up there too, and so is Bianca Jagger. They’re the ladies that Webb likes to keep close to her each season when she’s designing a new collection, and for Fall 2019, she summoned their effortlessly cool energy. This designer keeps to a fairly specific formula of ultra-high-waist trousers and jeans; pretty, travel-ready frocks; and military-inspired jackets, which is what she showed again for Fall. It all loosely referenced Cindy, Jane, and Bianca on her wall, mainly in the figure-enhancing denim and the basic white and black tees and bodysuits.The chic vibe of these women was also felt in Webb’s covetable outerwear, like a brown leather moto jacket or the long olive green overcoat with quilted lining. The menswear-inspired blazer dress with an exaggerated sleeve was something Webb’s loyal customer will no doubt love. For her, it’s less about introducing brand-new silhouettes or experimenting with a new print or embellishment, and more about the aim of continuing to build a wardrobe for the stylish women who like to follow her lead.
11 February 2019
It’s been about six years since Marissa Webb was designing for American basics behemoth J.Crew. She left to launch her own line in 2013, and ever since she’s been building a label that blends that easy, wearable J.Crew-famous aesthetic with her own chic, forward-looking sartorial point of view. For Pre-Fall 2019, Webb decided to really mine her creative past. She brought back her signature army green color palette by way of structured high-waist skirts and trousers, and focused on cozy knits, tees, and bodysuits. Webb’s new collection also shows off her penchant for strong tailoring, especially in a button-down minidress with pouf sleeves and a cinched waist. Her blazers and jackets were strong, too, especially a checked version that was cropped and could be tucked into a pair of jeans.Webb has been able to build a long-term business strategy for her company because she knows exactly what her customers will keep coming back for. Each season, she tweaks and refines, and from time to time adds something completely new, whether it’s a freer, boho-style frock or a wild print. But Webb knows which pieces are the bread and butter of her brand, and she proved for Pre-Fall that they are just as relevant today as they were when she branched out on her own post-J.Crew.
30 November 2018
Marissa Webb used the term melting pot several times while explaining the direction for her Spring 2019 collection. She often culls her inspiration from the diverse group of people who work in her studio, and when initially discussing what this season would look and feel like, their conversations revolved around the idea of visits to outdoor markets around the world. Everyone had their favorite spot, whether it was a spice market in Morocco, the flea at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, or Webb’s personal favorite, the Union Square farmers’ market. The designer’s collection, which was more tightly edited than usual despite its diverse reference points, was all about how to dress for leisurely exploring these vast, open-air spaces of commerce.All of the pieces would qualify as throw on and go, but they had a dressier vibe to them. There were new washes of Webb’s signature high-waist jeans, and also floral-print dresses with ruffled skirts and corset crop tops with balloon sleeves and belted shorts. The sequined items, particularly the leopard camisole and metallic minidress, didn’t quite qualify as something one might wear while pursuing radishes from a farm upstate. That said, Webb’s concise lineup did have enough other pieces to wear for a day out shopping in Marrakech, Mexico City, or Manhattan.
5 September 2018
Marissa Webb’s Resort collection was born out of a random deep dive on Google. For Resort 2019, she typed “Charlotte Rampling” into the search box. Clicking through photos of the actress from the ’70s, she somehow stumbled on a strange image of a bearded man from that era wearing short shorts, which ended up on the mood board. Webb also searched the topic “Hawaiian family,” which yielded beautiful portraits of large clans at wedding celebrations dressed in bright, bold florals.These visuals were fairly clear in the resulting clothes, especially the tropical flower-print dresses and tops and the cut-off, high-waist denim shorts that had a roller skate and disco-era vibe. Her usual sharp suiting and khaki trousers didn’t quite mesh with the references she culled online, but Webb was quick to point out that the collection, as usual, was about giving women a wardrobe of pieces they want to wear and can wear always.
1 June 2018
Marissa Webb was careful not to call her Fall 2018 collection “preppy.” She did reference old photos of rugby players and Ivy League students on the quad, but Webb’s clothes this season don’t quite fit into that polo-shirt-and-khakis kind of category. The designer did prep her way, which meant lace, ruffle-sleeved takes on striped rugby uniforms, a Cognac overcoat instead of a camel trench, and a turtleneck with a letterman symbol—a “P” of no particular significance that she found in a vintage shop. Webb often has thoughtful inspirations that she applies to her label, but truth be told, they never quite outshine the pieces that have remained her steadfast staples. These are the exaggerated high-waist skinny trousers and jeans, the maritime- or military-style sharp blazers and outerwear, and—usually—a floral-print top or two. You can always spot remnants of a throwback J.Crew-esque aesthetic, where she worked as head designer for over a decade before going out on her own in 2013. Webb’s collections don’t vary much from season to season, but she is always finding new small details to build upon or reconfigure (here, it was using one of her favorite fabrics, lace, to play with the idea of a collegiate tee). She’s a designer who is not always willing to experiment past her comfort zone. Instead, she chooses to stay laser-focused on giving her customers what they want time and time again.
12 February 2018
Marissa Webb has a hard time sitting still. The designer fancies herself a nomad, always looking for her next jaunt abroad. This year she took a boat around the Greek islands and, most recently, visited an eco-resort in Tulum. Thus, her Spring 2018 collection was made for a girl on the go, with easy pieces perfect for packing and gallivanting around the world. Webb showed feminine dresses that, refreshingly, had less edge than her usual designs. One of the most alluring frocks was a stretchy flamenco-dancer ruffled dress printed with tiny black polka dots. The lineup of lace periwinkle blouses and dresses were of note too. Styled off-the-shoulder and with sandals, they’d fit right in on the sands of a Mexican beach. As usual, Webb incorporated nicely tailored jackets and trousers into the resortwear-heavy lineup, some of which felt a little more street and out of context in this collection—the olive and khaki items namely. In all, it was a well-rounded offering with wearable, lovely little dresses and tops to fly around the world with.
11 September 2017
Marissa Webb hates clutter. She’s currently moving her studio and office from Nolita to the West Village and she’s trying to figure out what furniture she can keep, what needs to be given away, and what should go in storage. Webb’s soon-to-be new headquarters is slightly smaller than her old one, so editing is necessary. But she loves that process, hence the aforementioned aversion to disorder. In fact, the cleansing and purging of her former space coincides with the release of a prefall collection as tightly assembled as the fresh digs will most certainly be. This season, Webb focused on her hits and the things that she’s loved from previous seasons. She wants to design clothes with a longer lifespan, things that others can keep and wear forever too. There are 22 looks in total this season, nine less than spring.Outside of a few items designed in a classic camo print, Webb kept to an earthy, monochrome palette this time around. She mentioned that prints don’t really come naturally to her, and with prefall, she decided to stop pushing patterns on herself. Following her simplicity-driven personal instincts is a winning formula for Webb. In a way, Webb decluttered her aesthetic and because of that, the crisply tailored, belted skirts, shirtdresses, and blazers felt like some of her most advanced yet. The soft, slightly boxy knits were highlights too, ideal for the sharply-dressed and inherently tidy Marie Condo fan who doesn’t need anything extra.
4 December 2019
Marissa Webb was feeling nostalgic this season. For Pre-Fall, she told the story of her grandfather and his work as a military sea captain in the 1930s and ’40s. She talked about seeing his fisherman’s coat hung on the back of the front door to their house and remembered photographs of him in his tidy uniform with its strong lines and trousers made to fit almost absurdly high on a man’s waist.Webb’s interpretation of this fit for women’s pants was definitely her strongest design in the current collection. She made the pants with a double waistband and skinny leg in varying washes of denim and her signature olive green and dark khaki colors. Elsewhere, there were pretty little pink and black velvet slip dresses with ruffled hems, which were paired with strong military-inspired gold button jackets. Some of the lacy skirts and tops felt out of place amidst the utilitarian World War II–era garb; tailoring and structure are where Webb shines. One white T-shirt read “William, William, William,” on the front, as a nod to her grandfather, her father (also named William), and her husband Guillaume (which translates to William in English). It was a nice and very personal touch for this New York designer.
11 December 2017
In light of what’s been happening in the world, we could certainly all use a little optimism right now. That’s the frame of mindMarissa Webbseemed to be in today at her sunny Soho studio. The designer used the wordoptimisticseveral times throughout her Resort presentation—to describe the cuts, the silhouettes, and the seersucker cotton fabric she used so much of. While she stayed true to her menswear-inspired lines with her ultra high-waist and belted trousers and plays on traditional army trenches, this collection skewed a bit breezier than usual.Webb embraced flounce on backless tops and painterly floral-print dresses with tiered skirts. There were plenty of off-the-shoulder pieces too, as well as nicely tailored, girly shirtdresses. But not all of Webb’s signature edge was lost; she created what she called a “superwoman suit” with metallic brushed leather pants and a matching jacket. Does anything fill you with as much hope as a well-dressed power chick these days?
1 June 2017
It all started with a “shitty photograph.” That’s at least how Marissa Webb described the inspiration behind her Fall collection. “I hung up all of my fabrics on the windowsill surrounded by a brick wall,” she explains. “And because I’m such a terrible photographer, the image came out faded and saturated, but I really loved the way it all looked together.” The palette is a mix of her all-time favorite hue of hunter green; a strong marigold; and neutrals like taupe, black, and white. Webb feels strongly about making clothes in colors, shapes, and cuts that are organic and easy, and her latest offering is a continuation of that ethos.The designer showed high-waisted drawstring pants in leather and suede, as well as belted army jackets and button-up tanks with cascading structural ruffles at the back. Hefty silk bomber jackets and wool vests embellished with faux fur were juxtaposed with softer pieces like a tiered boho-ish gown, airy slip dresses in those neutral shades, and formfitting lace-appliquéd tops and skirts. Webb’s new lineup will work well for those who want an accessible, uncomplicated wardrobe that can be mixed and matched to make sharp yet eclectic everyday looks.
9 February 2017
After working at J.Crew for more than a decade (and playing a big part in its high-low revival),Marissa Webblaunched her namesake line for Spring ’13. More than a dozen collections later, her “look” hasn’t drastically changed; her aesthetic is rooted in utility jackets, dressy tops, and lots of masculine/feminine contrasts (i.e., leather and lace or a parka with a floral dress). Luckily, those are things that don’t really go out of style; Webb might tweak the proportions or experiment with a new color or print, but she doesn’t veer too far from those signatures. For her, it’s less about capital-F fashion and more about style.For Pre-Fall, Webb also named the 1940s as a consistent touchstone. That was mainly felt in the menswear pieces: slouchy washed-leather pants, Cupro boilersuits, corduroy trousers. We’ve been noticing ’40s-ish dresses on the runways lately and it would have been nice to see Webb’s take on the nipped-waist, poufed-sleeve silhouette. One place she did take a risk was with her usual army pant: This season’s came with an ultra-high, corset-like waist. Rises have been inching closer and closer to the rib cage for a few years now, but we’re hoping that doesn’t mean it’s time for ultra-low pants to make a comeback. Some of Webb’s customers might find the corset detail a little intimidating; if that’s the case, her snap-front cords looked like an easy, comfy alternative.
12 December 2016
Marissa Webbdoesn’t seek deep sources of inspiration when it comes to her collections. Webb dresses what she knows—and that is the women around her, specifically the “modern New York woman,” as she stated backstage, after a show whose pieces had a metropolitan polish. Remember the Glastonbury look that was popular during the 2000s—a worn-in, oversize army jacket thrown over a tired-looking baby-doll dress? (Kate Mosswore that muddied festival ensemble time after time). Here there was a city-appropriate incarnation of the field jacket, now elevated by way of a hip-length crop and sculpted, rounded sleeves, styled over a print dress that was pertly buttoned at the neck.Ruffles played a clever role. Sure, predictably, in some instances they were feminine, like on an amber charmeuse blouse that had ruffles scaling the arms. But when added to a blazer, the wide ruffles went as far as to add a clever structure; they stuck up high, coursing down the sleeves, giving off an air of broad executive power.Webb also played with waist heights. Low-slung cream trousers in silk became an instant closet staple that could seamlessly go from the boardroom to cocktail hour. The high-waisted leather cropped pants are something to look out for: The ankles had sets of grommets fastened by laces, and a fastened belt caused the extra fabric to bloom upward and gather unevenly past the waist, perfectly flattering the silhouette. It’s not just New York women who’ll love that.
8 September 2016
Marissa Webb recently opened her first store on Grand Street, and she said it’s been the best way to understand her customer. One major lesson she’s learned: Her girls aren’t looking for classic pieces or elevated basics. They want the special items they can’t find anywhere else. Luckily, Webb has built up a sense of identity in the four years since launching her brand; she’s known for fatigue jackets and pants, statement-y tops—usually with ruffles or lace—and a mix of masculine and feminine details.Webb understands the nuances of how women shop (she previously held positions at J.Crew and Banana Republic). She knows they aren’t looking for seasonal items anymore, so all of the pieces in her latest Resort collection could be worn year-round in lots of different combinations. “I wanted each piece to feel as if it could be layered with the next,” she said. For example, a pair of gray plaid wide-leg pants (which were perhaps just a littletooslouchy) was styled with a boxy crop top in the lookbook, but would also work well with one of Webb’s floral chiffon shirts. Flowers were actually the loose starting point for the whole collection—you could sense the volume of a hand-opened rose in the ruffled tops, but it was the vibrant, floral-printed dresses that really stood out. By the time November rolls around, they’ll feel like a breath of fresh air with tights and suede boots.
1 June 2016
Fall wasMarissa Webb’s first full collection since stepping down as creative director for Banana Republic. (She’s still an “advisor” to the brand.) While that bought her some extra time to focus on her show, she didn’t exactly try to kick back and relax. “I thought I would have a little bit of breathing room, but I didn’t really,” said Webb backstage. “Once I get invested in something, I really get invested, so my schedule filled up just as fast.”Which is why the designer wanted to “keep this collection light. I really just wanted to have fun,” she said. For Webb, fun isn’t about rainbow colors or over-the-top street style bait; it’s far subtler than that. Witness her opening look: an exquisitely tailored herringbone plaid coat pinned with a fuzzy black heart. A whimsical touch to be sure, but, true to Webb’s practical approach to design, the pin could easily be taken off. Also providing that sense of levity: The floaty marigold dresses, the jaunty herringbone scarves (especially when paired together), and the Edwardian ruffles found on blouses and dresses.Perhaps because of her time spent at mega-retailers like J.Crew and Banana Republic, Webb astutely focused on buy-now, wear-now pieces (the season’s buzz phrase) that could be easily layered and mixed-and-matched. Though she showed a handful of coats—the fir green shearling was a highlight—there were just as many sleeveless tops and dresses. One of Webb’s strongest looks consisted of a white lace top with pronounced shoulders, layered over a tank top and tucked into army pants fasted with a loop belt, which one could imagine wearing in late summer (when this collection probably delivers) or into fall with a coat.There’s a reason why Banana Republic picked Webb in the first place: She understands the way a broad range of women think about clothes. She doesn’t pull inspiration from esoteric, ethereal sources; she simply designs what she thinks they’d like to wear. When asked if she has a girl in mind, Webb said: “I think about everyone. My 5-year-old nieces put on the clothes and look great, and I have customers in their 70s who also look great.”
11 February 2016
Marissa Webbisn’t the type to drop everything to plan her wedding. At a preview at home in her apartment, she explained that after being engaged for a few years, she has finally found time in her schedule to nail down the details. Her Pre-Fall collection offered a few clues as to what her ceremony—and, of course, her dress—might look like. “I was thinking about the colors I’d want people to wear at my wedding,” she explained. “It would be 1920s menswear-inspired, which is really the DNA of the brand—men’s tailoring with feminine twists.”That meant a pinstriped blazer had a ruffle around the collar and was layered over wide-leg, super-slouchy trousers. As Webb said, it was all about mixing “the hard and the soft”; see the ivory lace dress with tuxedo pin-tucking at the bust, or the rib-cage-grazing sailor pants styled with a ruffled dickey. Dickeys were a constant throughout the lineup; actually, there’s been a dickey in every Marissa Webb collection so far. The fact that it can be layered over a T-shirt or under a slip dress sums up her mix-and-match vision pretty succinctly. Easy-to-style, stand-alone pieces are key to retail success these days, and Webb gives her customers plenty of ideas, like new, exaggerated proportions (such as an extra-long tunic over a midi skirt) and mashed-up textures like lace, herringbone, and crisp cotton.
14 December 2015
No matter what the latest trends are dictating, the concept of high-low juxtaposition will always be in style.Marissa Webbhas built her business around contrasts like masculine and feminine, hard and soft, edgy and sweet. ForSpring, Webb didn’t veer too far from those signatures, but her inspiration lent a fresh, genuinely new angle. After flipping through old 1950s photographs of her grandfather Albert decked out in military fatigues beside her grandmother, who favored prim dresses, she realized how great those “uniforms” would look mixed together. The result was a collection rich with texture, color, and volume.Instead of adhering to one specific vibe, Webb tends to play with mini themes throughout her collections; here, there were neon orange lace dresses, grungy plaids, and a pale pink skinny suit, which offered a slicker take on Le Smoking. But the best looks featured some kind of vest: a plaid-and-lace dress with a leather pinafore-style vest, or a swishy floral gown topped with an abbreviated army jacket. From a distance, the vests and dresses appeared to be fused together for one easy piece, but shoppers will be able to buy them separately come next year. That kind of styling trick calls to mind Webb’s career-defining stint atJ.Crew—arguably the harbinger of the modern “mash-up” look—but perhaps we’ll see more of those mixed references at herBanana Republicpresentation this Saturday.
11 September 2015
It's nice when a hard-to-pull-off idea works. This season, Marissa Webb added a double bustle to her cinched-waist military jacket—an unexpected, potentially intimidating frill that could have been a disaster if the proportions were off. However, they weren't, and Resort was elevated because she took that risk.Webb might notalwaysplay it safe, but an obsession with consistency means that she likes to fiddle with utilitarian silhouettes time and again. This particular collection was filled with oversize cargo vests—which could be worn boxy or belted—and trench dresses that doubled as coats (done in a pretty lavender cupro, as well as plaid linen). Paper-bag-waist cargo pants were accented with exposed zippers.The designer loves adding details to the backs of things: a bustle, a silk panel, a stream of free-flowing lace. Flourishes like those don't necessarily help to sell a dress online or in the pages of a magazine where they are hidden from view. But they do make Webb's clothes feel special, and show that she's eager to do more than tick off the requisite commercial boxes.
1 June 2015
Marissa Webb is the first one to admit that she's repeating herself. "I'm sticking to the brand's DNA of masculine-feminine, soft and hard, menswear tailoring, and feminine elements," she said backstage. "It's a spin-off of every other season."But good things often bear repeating. Webb has found her sweet spot of street-style-ready fare that young ladies who want to be cool will understand. They're classic pieces that are styled differently and tweaked just a bit to set them apart from the wardrobe staples on the next rack. Take Fall's gray suit, done here as a strapless double-breasted top, worn over a buttoned-up black shirt and fluid pants. Or the shirtdress rendered in see-me-now fire-engine red silk. The most interesting looks were a curved bomber and shell, both red felted and layered over silk skirts—a hint that perhaps there is more than just the status quo ahead.
12 February 2015
Marissa Webb doesn't tend to spend time conjuring inspiration from far-flung sources. Instead, she aims for a steady evolution. "It's all built around the philosophy of soft and hard, masculine and feminine," said the designer at her Greenwich Village studio, where she was shooting her Pre-Fall lookbook. (Webb also served as the collection's de facto stylist, fiddling with trouser cuffs and shirt hems in between takes.) This season, she worked with a mix of textures, including a nubby wool tweed, a woven silk jacquard, and a weighty silk blend with a heavy sheen. Those fabrics were fashioned into pintucked-bib tunics with ties hanging loosely in the front, a softly shaped striped blazer wrapped up almost like a kimono, and a long cargo-pocket vest with an exaggerated stand-up collar. There were some things in the collection that came off as feeling not so fresh—a flippy miniskirt, for instance. Webb's vision is certainly clearest when she bucks the trends. Cutouts on a tweed blazer's hemline or the pitched seams of a blouse that curved just so offered unexpected twists to traditional silhouettes.
9 December 2014
There's nothing wrong with taking a page from your own book—especially if you're Marissa Webb, whose personal street style has been blogged about since right around the time people started blogging about personal street style. So if Webb wants to sprinkle some of that effortless everyday fairy dust on the masses, great.She showed clothes that were easy to digest—an army of trenches and jackets, breezy dresses in sweet eyelet or graphic prints, a handful of easy shirtdresses and tux jackets. But each piece also had some detail or element that made it interesting and fun (and also photogenic if, say, spotted on some street on a sunny afternoon). "Hard and soft, masculine and feminine, East and West kept coming to mind," Webb said backstage. "Not just East Coast-West Coast, but the volume and sweep of the dresses and tops." The East clearly represented Webb's city life: on the go in skinny, skinny jeans and feminine layers on top. There were strains of the Far East, too, in the origami folds of a dress cut from an olive drab trench. While on the Western front, rosy gold tips and laser cuts gussied up cowboy booties.While the show began to repeat itself, it was nothing some seasoned editing and more confidence won't fix. Webb's lineup raised the question: How many ways can you do cargo? "There isn't just one way of wearing something," she said. "You can twist it up, wear it backwards and upside down." Her runway reflected that conviction, the best example being the poof-collared, flared-hem field jackets.
4 September 2014
Since her Fall show, Marissa Webb has scored a big job at Banana Republic. It should raise the profile of her own brand, which is in expansion mode. This was her first Resort offering for her eponymous label. She used the occasion to continue to refine her message. The girly flourishes of previous shows have mostly vanished. Generally speaking, Webb prefers clothes with an urban, boyish feeling. Close-fit suits with cropped pants, cotton poplin shirts of all shapes and sizes, tough leather pieces—she gave them feminine appeal in the way she layered them together. The first look, for example, paired a boyish suit with an oversize button-down reined in by the cropped tank worn over it. Webb has also developed a fondness for the element of surprise. The boxy white tank she herself was modeling had a sheer back—provocative, but only so much. The girliest piece here was a pinafore dress with a floaty, asymmetrical hem (it happened to be the best look in the collection), but even it was toughened up in a bold black-and-white gingham check. Save for a couple of pale lilac suede separates, color was another thing Webb more or less avoided here. The collection would've benefitted from a bit more of it.
3 June 2014
Marissa Webb said she took cues from her own on-the-run lifestyle for her new Fall collection. "Everything's hectic, chaotic, fast-paced. The collection is about feeling polished, feeling like you have a little edge, but at the same time not being constricted or confined, and not having to think a lot about it," she explained backstage. Sounds good, right? Who doesn't want to streamline their morning routine? But then she sent out the first few looks with leather arm warmers. Nothing simple about strapping on those babies as you rush out the door.Look beyond them, however, and Webb did have some clever propositions. First and foremost were the jackets cut from gray marl, a savvy riff on the designer sweatshirt trend. Another smart look combined a white silk ruffle-front dress with a tailored knee-length gray vest: business on top, party underneath. Webb is most at home working in black and white and shades of gray—she's a Manhattanite, after all—but she did toss in some print and color at the end. The floral organza was a bit muddy. The pink was of the moment; we're expecting to see a lot more of it this week. That leaves the red, which was easily the best. In a vivid shade of poppy, a cropped V-neck and a matching floor-length skirt encapsulated Webb's message about looking cool without sacrificing comfort.
6 February 2014
Marissa Webb is still building her brand identity, an identity that's blessed and cursed with the oft-used modifier "former J.Crew designer." On one hand, buyers and shoppers are thrilled to know Webb spent many years designing pieces they already own. On the other, it's hard to escape the bright, glittering shadow cast by the empire that Mickey Drexler built.Webb's challenge is to draw from what she helped create at J.Crew while establishing house codes that are hers and hers alone. Her tight Pre-Fall collection is a big step toward that. "It's a palate cleanser," Webb said of the rack of mostly separates, mostly in black and white. There was special attention paid to comfort, too: Sweat-style pants were made work-appropriate in gray flannel and black crepe, while the menswear-style button-downs were shirred between the shoulder blades to give them a loose, open back. Even Webb's take on the little black dress, a V-neck shift with lace sleeves, was cut wide to offer ease. A plaid organza shell—again, with an open back that hung much longer than the front—paired as nicely with its matching pleated skirt as it did with a color-blocked tuxedo pant that had the narrowest white silk piping down the seams. It all hung together well, and looked very "Marissa Webb." No modifier needed.
8 December 2013
"I'm a tomboy in a tutu," Marissa Webb said backstage at her show tonight. Now in her third season, Webb is becoming known for combining masculine and feminine elements in her collections. Nothing summed up her backstage talking points quite like the look in which she layered a ruched net party dress with a silk button-down and tie, but there were other examples. A fatigue jacket topping a ruffled frock, a floral-print dress accompanied by another one of those blouses and ties, a crisp black blazer over a lacy white camisole and miniskirt (Webb is a big believer in the mini for spring). All her years at J.Crew made Webb a convincing mash-up artist. They also honed her sense for what sells. A cropped black leather and wool jacket had dollar signs all over it, and the same goes for the bouclé tweed jackets inset with leather. Another item for the plus column: her denim jeans, which suggest she's a stickler for fit.The transition from a presentation format to her first ever runway show didn't go off without a hitch, though. Webb did her own styling, and the truth is, she could've benefited from an outside voice. Someone to warn her off the ankle straps buckled over pants, which was a small issue, and to edit a few of the collection's outliers, which presented a bigger problem of focus. First to go should've been an asymmetric dress and matching tunic in a hazy abstract print. A stylist is easy enough to find before next season. In the meantime, those little jackets and jeans should prove to be solid building blocks.
5 September 2013
Marissa Webb was as obsessive-compulsive about the details of her presentation this morning as she was at her fashion week debut last season, but she has reason to be newly confident. Jenna Lyons' former wingman at J.Crew now has floor space at Barneys to call her own—the department store threw a dinner in her honor last week. More important, this was no sophomore slump. "We're getting the fits nailed down," she said. And she was right on that account.It's tempting to say pants are Webb's strong suit. She had very high-waisted trousers that she promised really suck you in, as well as cool motorcycle pants in denim and leather. She also cut them in a royal blue Italian wool, which changed the look; they were still edgy, yet also elegant. But double-breasted jackets with slightly built-out hips looked really sharp too. Webb modeled one herself in charcoal gray; the effect was more English countryside than urban when she cut another one in a red and blue plaid with black leather trim. Webb loves a popover top, and she showed a couple in tweedy black and white with leather insets. They have the polish of a blazer without the strictness, and we can't say we've seen a lot of them elsewhere in Barneys.A sweet silk-wool dress with French lace details had less to distinguish it from a lot of other things on the selling floors. It's still early days for Webb, so it's smart to stay diversified. "I don't ever want to be just one thing," she said. Still, our money is on the masculine, tougher side of her Fall story.
8 February 2013
Marissa Webb staged her first solo presentation today, but she's no stranger to fashion week. Before she left J.Crew last year, she appeared side by side with Jenna Lyons at the brand's Lincoln Center installations. At her show today you could see the connections between Webb's former life and her new one in her flair for offbeat color combinations, her embrace of casual-cool everyday clothes, and, yes, her penchant for sequins. But there were enough distinctions to see why she might've wanted to do something with her own name on it. A white Italian cotton-linen pantsuit that she indicated as a favorite pointed up the differences best. No ordinary suit, the jacket was rather more of a tunic with a narrow fit, a deep V-front, and a zip up the back. Probably the best way to put it is that the Webb look is more elevated.Greeting the 9:30 a.m. crowd, Webb said what defines the collection are its combinations: "High and low, black and white, soft and hard, accessible but also inspiring." Her years of merchandising experience at J.Crew came through in the show's wide-ranging propositions. On the one hand, you saw lots of tough black leather (the best piece being a waistcoat with a side zip closure), and on the other, she had all these silk bow-front blouses. Falling somewhere in between those two poles was another persuasive look, a black and white baseball jersey in crisp poplin, worn with superwide pants in the same fabric, with thick stripes wrapping around the outside of the legs. This was a promising beginning.
7 September 2012