Kaelen (Q4890)
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Kaelen is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Kaelen |
Kaelen is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Out of the CFDA Fashion Incubator and into the frying pan—or rather, the real world/Chinatown. On a scorcher of a September morning, Kaelen Haworth showed not only her Spring collection but her airy new studio, too. With its spare walls and great light, the space was a fitting home for this collection, one of Haworth’s most elevated offerings to date.Recent seasons have found the designer streamlining the bells and whistles of her aesthetic, instead honing in on silhouette and purposeful, winning ways in which to apply one of her most evident loves—textile. Fabrications were a start from the wordgo. Highlights included a textured dandelion stretch jacquard; lustrous black and white cupro stripes; goldenrod linen; and a scene-stealing print which from afar looked abstract, but was in fact a stunner of a metallic, cherry-patterned jacquard.They helped to lend the collection a depth which Haworth dubbed “heritage but not retro,” and smartly toed the line between more overtly quirky and spartan extremes of seasons gone by. Lace-up detailing was a particularly nice touch, seen at sizes from the delicate (untether the bottom of a floor-grazing gown in robin’s-egg blue faux suede and you’d have a sweet shift), to the macro (Haworth’s silk faille blazer bearing a single, oversize grommet detail was a simple standout). Near every piece in the bunch felt both considered and covetable this season; Haworth is off to an impressive start in her career outside of the Incubator.
8 September 2016
“How do you make clothes that are easy to wear but work back to this idea of dressing interestingly?” That’s the question designerKaelen Haworthasked—and answered—at her presentation today.The collection started with a floral pattern the designer fell in love with that appeared on dark wool fabric and, more to the point, a shiny silver lamé. “I didn’t feel like people needed another plain floral dress,” she said. “So I wanted to do something that’s a little bit off-kilter.” To emphasize the message, many of the looks were styled with a sporty turtleneck made from a shiny black spandex-nylon or with contrasting windowpane check.The designer also focused on building out the brand’s shirting category. “We realized, there’s no point in us making a button-up shirt,” she said. “So if we’re going to do shirting, it has to be something distinctive.” Again playing with that balance of ease and uniqueness, Haworth turned out oxford blue shirts with fashion-girl details, like a bow at the waist or large flared sleeves (fast becoming a Kaelen staple). Judging from what’s already on Instagram, these will be best-sellers.Haworth has grown up both as a designer and a businesswoman (she’ll also be a mother this spring): She’s been edging her way into a designer price point and recently decided to produce just two seasons per year with flexible delivery dates. There was a confidence as well as a playfulness to Fall 2016 that spoke to this newfound maturity. We’re eager to see where she will grow from here.
13 February 2016
When presented with the opportunity from the WCFDA (an initiative from the CFDA and W Hotels) to take a research trip, rather than going abroad,Kaelen Haworthstruck out on an all-American road trip. Stopping in New Orleans, as well as Austin, Marfa, and Dallas, Texas, the designer was struck by the various landscapes, particularly the harshness and graphic appeal of the desert. And so came a collection sparer and more sophisticated than some of seasons gone by. Shapes skewed toward a certain utility, even at the dressiest: A floor-skimming T-shirt dress was boxy and came with patch pockets, though its generous slit and fantastic chartreuse hue added plenty in the way of appeal. Likewise, the versatility of a sleeveless jumpsuit in elephant-gray suede didn’t need to be explained—it fairly cried out to be teamed with your everyday kicks, or sky-high wedges and a clutch. Haworth continued last season’s explorations with knitwear, and while you won’t find much in the way of the slouchy or the oversize, her clingy ribbed knits are top-notch.The sparseness of these pieces was a promising development for the label; still, it wasn’t all minimalism and no play. Shimmering silver linen culottes and a cowl-back metallic rose gold slip nodded to the label’s more feminine proclivities of the past in a soigné new way.
14 September 2015
After Fall's slightly convoluted outing of prints, shapes, andTwin Peaks, it came as welcome news that Kaelen Haworth had decided not to mire herself "in the whole inspiration bog," as she put it, and instead opted to work on a lineup of more understated wardrobe staples with a few artful flourishes.The foundation of Resort was a bonded combo of black double-crepe with an underside of sea-foam silk charmeuse. Substantial but luxe, Haworth spun it into skirts, a peplumed jacket, and wide-leg trousers with a thick cuff that exposed the pastel underside to nice effect. "I wanted the collection to unfold and be more about the fabrications and technique," the designer offered at a showroom preview. Among the most notable pieces were groupings in pleats, including a skirt that combined sunburst pleats with the famously fabric-consuming Fortuny style. The effect was feminine, but not insistently so, and right in step with the Kaelen vernacular. Still, some of the biggest news here was an expanded knitwear lineup (Haworth was recently announced as one of the finalists for this year's Woolmark Prize): Her plaited, nubby, and body-con options were all winners.
8 June 2015
“Sweet but a little bit fucked-up.” That was Kaelen Haworth's Fall précis, so who better a muse thanTwin Peaks' oft-referenced teenage vamp, Audrey Horne? Call it the Lynch influence (Haworth even chose her set's red velvet backdrop based on the one used inTwin Peaks' infamous Black Lodge), but this season found the Kaelen brand in quirkier spirits than usual, embracing a hefty dose of pattern-and-silhouette play, to mixed results. Per Haworth, "I wanted everything to have a purpose. There's nothing that's a real basic-basic." And it was true—you'd be hard-pressed to find much in the way of Spring's cleanly sportif looks. Here was a riot of color and texture, with retro shapes to spare. The brand expanded its array of custom fabrics, including a peach-colored floral jacquard with orange chevrons printed atop—presumably a reference toPeaks' namesake landmark—whipped into A-line skirts, a trench, and a tent dress. But somewhere between all the fringed tweed, moto jackets, bold stripes, and a splashy, shimmering floral jacquard, the message got muddled. The strongest propositions here were some of the simplest, and still had plenty of play to them: a ladylike tie-front shift in tropical wool, a rosy lamé frock, and a fuzzy dove-gray bodysuit and matching duster (undeniably Miss Horne).
12 February 2015
Kaelen's Spring forecast is looking flirty. Spurred by an image of a tropical bloom, designer Kaelen Haworth turned out an offering that felt girlish (or, perhaps, womanish) without sacrificing a bit of sophistication. The tension between masculine and feminine has long been a Kaelen preoccupation, and while she maintained many of her chicly boxy shapes for Spring, there was a newfound sex appeal to them. It spoke to a sense of languidness that came through in dramatic cowl-back dresses; a particularly ethereal, iridescent chiffon; and oversize flounces (another recurring accent in Haworth's collections).Steamy climes got a nod in the form of an emerald macro-botanical print, brazen by the label's usual standards. Elsewhere, Resort's ultra-fluid laser-cut neoprene was brought back in a floral pattern, but thanks to bonding techniques it maintained a bit of the techy "weirdness" (read: stiffness, volume, and uncanny hand-feel) of which Haworth is an avowed fan. Then there were easy blush-colored jumpsuits and separates, and some utterly cool pieces in both white linen and a textured, carpet-y blend trimmed with long, swingy fringe that zipped on and off. The latter proved to be standouts of the collection and were one of Haworth's most successful experiments with convertibility to date.Each look here had a sense of lightness and ease, which resonated particularly well on a scorching September afternoon, and also made apparent the label's growth over the past few seasons. It's worth noting that this is Haworth's first full offering since she joined the third class of the CFDA's Incubator development program. One can happily look forward to what she'll be sending out come Fall.
4 September 2014
While discussing her eponymous line's first Resort outing, Kaelen Haworth mentioned Slim Aarons' photographs as a jumping-off point. Even with a cursory glance at the clothes, the inspiration seemed surprising. Aarons' tanned WASP aristocracy is a far cry from the modern, graphic appeal of Kaelen's latest fare—happily. Here, there were trim shapes and no shortage of techy fabrics. One ultra-light, lacy laser-cut neoprene was particularly fluid and pretty, and flew in the face of some of its bulky and stiff counterparts. Zip-off flounces were an easier sell than they were last season, thanks to a mainly black and white palette (including a canvas in big, bold stripes that only evoked Beetlejuice a little bit) and one lattice-cut neoprene version in cream with sheer underlay. For Fall, those flounces looked girlish in pink; here, they felt flirty, but decidedly more sophisticated. Pattern was less prominent than it has been in the past, though one abstract floral, which Haworth dubbed a "trippy Hawaiian-shirt print," made its way in. By and large, the looks on offer felt well considered—and a peek at Spring 2015's inspiration board suggested that collection will be promising, too.
4 June 2014
For Fall, Kaelen Haworth got a bit girlier. Largely skipping her eponymous line's usually laid-back, slouchy shapes, she sent out a pretty traditional vision of femininity. There were fitted sheaths, tulle, and more than a few flounces. (Lest fans think that Kaelen's gotten a bittoogirly, fret not: Those ruffles on skirts and tops zip off.) Even at their most eccentric, pieces felt generally safe and flirty. High points included a tomato mohair jacket and top with matching skirt. "[The material] was not something I would normally gravitate toward," said Haworth postshow, "but for some reason I loved it, so that was sort of a jumping-off point." Red Hook natural dyer Audrey Louise Reynolds lent a hand, coloring other fabrics using both squid ink and berries, but all told it was hard not to feel that the collection could have done with a few more palpably idiosyncratic touches.
7 February 2014
"I wanted the clothes to feel like they stood right at the meeting point of old and new," said Kaelen Haworth at a studio preview of her new Spring collection, which fused traditional menswear-inspired patterns like houndstooth, herringbone, and glen plaid with the designer's downtown sensibility. Haworth gave classic Prince of Wales checks a modern update by splashing them like paint dripping across sporty neoprene separates. She also showed scratchy tweed in decidedly unstuffy ways—on a swingy coat and a cutout-shoulder crop top that had shorn-off, frayed edges—"almost as though they were breaking at the seams." Speaking of seams, Haworth put more of a focus on sharp tailoring than usual. It was apparent in boxy jackets and trenches with double lapels and just the right amount of slouch, as well as a slim, color-blocked sheath dress boasting an exaggerated collar and strong shoulders.
3 September 2013
Kaelen Haworth's experimentation with novelty fabrics this season yielded her most accomplished collection yet. At the Kaelen Fall presentation, the up-and-coming designer explained that she was going for a "sophisticated grunge" look and referenced nineties cult films likeThe Virgin SuicidesandThe Craftwhile developing the lineup, which was full of moody purples and inky blacks. Haworth recalled "falling in love" with a metallic jacquard, which looks like crushed velvet from a distance, and whipped it into slouchy biker pants as well as a below-the-knee dress with an open back. Shearling-trimmed vests and moto jackets came in a surprising, lovely shade of lavender, while laser-cut leather button-ups and pencil skirts offered a toughened-up alternative to delicate lace. Haworth used a rich grape-colored silk faille on sporty parka jackets and long culotte shorts that she paired with a peony-print organza sweatshirt. That nicely illustrated the designer's subtle, elevated approach to streetwear.
10 February 2013