Proenza Schouler (Q7512)
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| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Proenza Schouler |
company |
Statements
2002
designer
2005
freelancer
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez preempted the official start of New York Fashion Week by 48 hours with a small show for 140 people. The cycle is spinning into motion again, and, in pole position, the Proenza Schouler designers assumed some responsibility for setting the season’s tone. At a preview, they seemed primed and ready.“We really stripped things back to the point where we felt like there wasn’t a lot more to strip beyond last season,” McCollough said. “This season, we’re rebuilding some of our codes from the past in new ways.”Fashion has confronted a summer of challenges, from the wobbly wholesale system to sales declines to big hires not producing commensurate results. McCollough and Hernandez have clocked the prevailing mood. “No one needs another black suit,” Hernandez said. “What’s luring people, at least for us, is an emotional quality—like you look at that and you say, ‘that’s so amazing, I need it.’ It’s about trying to elicit an emotional response.”This morning their Tribeca loft venue glowed with amber September light and a spirit of reunion, and on the runway the clothes looked refreshed. Scarf-like square shapes formed the foundation of the collection. They said they were thinking of sails, though they hoped that the nautical theme didn’t read too literally. The squares were draped across the body, which meant you saw flashes of skin on sleeveless striped tops worn with button-front sailor pants, as well as on fluid floral print dresses with an appealing sense of motion. Knit dresses and top-and-skirt sets in graphic marinière stripes looked especially distinctive; they could be contenders for the kind of collector’s status their velvet tie-dye dresses from half-a-decade ago still enjoy.Asked to identify their codes, Hernandez and McCollough mentioned pleats and fringe, and both treatments were in ample supply. The former gave long jersey dresses in ivory, black, red, and lilac a classical Grecian quality, while the latter, constructed from both leather and tubes of organza, had more of a punkish, modern edge, especially the when they turned up on skirts with uneven, slashed hems.Rubber rain shoes and boots made in collaboration with Sorel and low-profile sneakers with subtle PS logos grounded many of the looks, giving them a street-ready attitude resonant of their New York stomping grounds. On that note, a pair of sail-back short shirtdresses are likely to find a lot of takers, too.
4 September 2024
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez’s opening salvo for fall 2024? A peacoat, its fabrication and the bands that circled the sleeves distinguishing it from standard-issue military surplus. This Proenza Schouler collection put the quiet in quiet luxury; the designers finessed outerwear essentials, took tailoring cues from ’90s fashion macher Helmut Lang, and stripped away anything superfluous. The cloud prints and crystal embellishments of last season, and even the new monogram logo they introduced, had been shelved.At a studio preview, they talked about the state of the world (“the wars, the division”) and the state of fashion (the obligation to adhere to an unyielding schedule, in particular). “The noise,” McCollough said. “It made us want to focus inward, focus on something a little intimate.” Jazz musician Alice Coltrane’s “Going Home” set a sort of meditative mood.These weren’t spa clothes—a trend we saw elsewhere last season—but they were swaddling, from the generous cowls that accessorized jackets to the shawls that wrapped around bare shoulders and pinned at the mid-back above matching dresses that were worn as skirts. A trio of attractive fine-knit maxidresses in ivory, red, and soft peach draped and clung to waistlines like sensual hugs.In counterpoint, the tailoring was clean and sharp—note the creases down the sleeves of a white three-button jacket—but not severe. The parkas, in particular, followed Lang’s blueprint. It’s interesting to observe that Hernandez and McCollough’s search for “peace, warmth, comfort, and ease” led them to the ’90s. The internet was well on its way to infiltrating every aspect of our lives, but those were analog times compared to the relentlessness of our algorithmic present.The temptation to cocoon in cozy shearling vests and coats, of which there were many here, is highly relatable, and the Proenza Schouler designers can’t go wrong leaning into that instinct—we all want to feel good in these increasingly bad times. Their challenge moving forward will be to push out of that comfort zone.
10 February 2024
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have a new monogram. It’s an abstracted PS that looks more like an infinity symbol than letters. The designers are offering a rendering of it that they did with black acrylic on paper in an online auction Phillips is currently running. The estimate is $10,000 to $15,000—steep compared to the Ellsworth Kelly right next to it with a current bid of $1,600.At today’s show, which took place at Phillips’s Park Avenue headquarters, they made subtle use of the monogram. It decorated the chest of a little cashmere sweater and took the form of brass hardware on black loafers. There were more monograms stenciled on the sidewalk in the neighborhood around the auction house than there were on the actual runway.You could say that McCollough and Hernandez are in their subtle era. At a preview in their showroom, they reiterated points they’ve made recently, about rejecting the quest for seasonal newness in favor of honing their signatures—iterating rather than flipping the script. “We finished the fall show and we knew right away that we really wanted to continue its spirit,” McCollough said. “To have that board of women we pulled together last season be the starting point and just kind of riff off a lot of the same ideas in a spring context.”The two collections were very much in conversation with each other. It started with the celebrity casting. Chloë Sevigny, who opened last season, was replaced by Natalie Laura Mering, who is known professionally as Weyes Blood and who wrote an original composition for the soundtrack. Her white single-breasted, three-button jacket and black trousers struck an understated, minimal note, save for her glossy red toe polish and sheer black stockings worn with strappy kitten heels. Other jackets were worn tucked into pants waistbands, a utility belt strung through the belt loops.The designers liked the ordinariness of showing bleached straight-leg jeans and a black leather coat with straps hanging below the hem (an equestrian reference) and a papery windbreaker-type jacket with a mesh tee. Pieces like these made this collection look more Helmut Lang–y than Peter Do’s debut for that brand yesterday. But they answered those plainer looks with special pieces that showed off their interest in craft, like mesh dresses made from hand-tacked ribbon and gossamer separates with “broken glass” embroidery.
Speaking of the label’s initials, its first handbag, the PS1, is back in squishy leather and leather-covered hardware. Its low-key cool jibed with the rest of the collection.
9 September 2023
Lazaro Hernandez was modeling an oversized bomber at a pre-spring preview. “I want to get this for myself,” he said. Proenza Schouler aren’t pivoting to a gender neutral format, but 20 years in they are in their personal era. “It’s true to our our own style, it’s honest to us,” Jack McCollough said. For their fall collection, they created a mood board of all their favorite women, and rather than take it down and move on to another concept or set of references, they left it up as they began working on this season. Consistency and clothes for “real life” are their operating principles now. “It’s the same women in our hearts,” Hernandez said.Chloë Sevigny doesn’t make a repeat appearance here, but the blazer she wore in the opening look of the fall show does, down to the clever zip along the center seam in back. Many of the pieces that walked that runway return in evolved forms: The strapless leather dresses with the folded-over necklines have now come in knit versions, easier to wear and easier on the wallet. The fluid chiffon pieces cut like scarf squares and fastened with rows of brass buttons have been rethought in barer versions; McCollough calls them “DIA Beacon dresses,” after the upstate museum, for their cool, graphic lines. And having had success with shearling outerwear, they gave a convincing faux fur coat a try (the material was made by a German teddy bear manufacturer, they reported), as well as luxe double-face cashmere.Emphasizing consistency risks inspiring ennui, even in the “quiet luxury” moment we’re living in. Hernandez and McCollough worked to combat that by embracing color. The aforementioned strapless knit dress was cut in a shade of Yves Klein blue as vibrant as last season’s yellow shearling. And they chose a bold blueish red for a draped jersey dress with versatile ties that can be worn multiple ways. The dress that’s likely to catch most eyes, however, comes in black and white. It combines a black v-neck bias-cut midi-length with a gauzy white high-necked, longer-hemmed under layer. Real-life chic, as promised.
11 June 2023
Chloe Sevigny opened the Proenza Schouler show today. She’s worn Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez’s clothes since the beginning; they were New York ingenues together 20 years ago. Now, Sevigny has a young child and balances motherhood with movie and TV roles; herPoker Faceco-star Natasha Lyonne was in the front row.This wasn’t an anniversary show, the designers insisted at a preview in their Soho studio, but a scroll through the Vogue Runway archive confirms that fall 2003 was their first post-Parsons graduation season. In any case, they said they’ve been taking stock, thinking about the friends and customers they’ve made over two decades. “This is our most personal collection yet,” said McCollough. “It was less revolving around a theme, more looking at the actual women in our lives: What is it they want?”Like Sevigny and Olympia Scarry, who walked later a few looks later, the women in McCollough and Hernandez’s lives have grown up, and grown out of some of the Proenza Schoulerisms they’ve honed over the years. Prints were kept to a minimum here. The ones that did turn up were remnants from past collections, and only appeared as the linings of dresses, visible through a side-slit in the midi-length skirt, or on straps pulled off the shoulders and left to peplum at the waist. There was no room for ruffles or bows, either. The only real embellishment they used was white pom pom fringe on a black velvet dress, but it was mostly obscured by the charcoal wool skirt that their stylist Camilla Nickerson, another friend they mentioned by name, layered over it.Other signatures stayed in the picture, but in updated versions. A pair of narrowly cut velvet shirt dresses made with dyed ice cubes that dripped their deep colors from neck to hem—indigo fading to cobalt, and chocolate brown dissolving into silvery gray—were evocative of their best-selling velvet tie-dye dresses of fall 2018, only subtler, more adult. The spongy, stretchy evening numbers with the sequins “baked in” were elaborations of simpler t-shirt dresses from a couple of pre-collections ago.In the studio Hernandez said, “it’s about using our ingredients and not throwing it all out and starting from scratch every season.” If you looked closely you could see that the short sleeves were differently shaped. Other knits were constructed in a similarly askew way; they twisted across the body, elevating them out of the ordinary.Not that Hernandez and McCollough have anything against the everyday.
Over sounds by the Venezuelan musician Arca, Sevigny’s voice was on the soundtrack, reading “diary entries” written by the author Ottessa Moshfegh, with whom they’ve collaborated before, “kind of like an inner monologue.” Clothes-wise, the idea was to make an art of the everyday. By adding vertical zippers to the back of blazers that flashed a hint of skin but also enhanced ease of movement, by whipping up a hoodie in the softest, plushest knit, and by cutting “jeans” in a glossy gold leather, a nod to Helmut Lang, a few of whom’s runway looks were pinned to the mood board along with photos of Sevigny et al. The only thing that would have driven the message home more is if more of those friend-muses joined her on the runway.
11 February 2023
Is it time once and for all to change the name of the pre-seasons? Shouldn’t resort be winter and pre-fall summer? That’s the question Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez put forward with this collection. Though it opens with an unlined technical jersey jacket light and airy enough for the hottest months, the heart and soul of the lineup is a strapless terry jersey dress that looks like the towel you’d wrap around your torso as you exit the pool, or step out of the shower, its effortless effect achieved by an internal corset.Proenza Schouler’s pre-season collections are “less wrapped around a theme, and more wrapped around great pieces for everyday,” McCollough said. Summer wardrobe maintenance was the task at hand here, so they riffed on the drawstring jersey dresses that proved to be recent hits, but cutting them as bodysuits and pairing them with trousers, or by rethinking their sexy, cutout-boasting shape in glossy leather in a sunny yellow shade that has become a go-to color. Another summertime winner will be a slinky white matte viscose crepe dress whose single braided back strap is also lifted from a previous season.A newer exploration is the polo neck knits they sprinkled throughout the offering. The designers themselves have taken to wearing polo shirts again lately after many years. Here, they cut them in a metallic knit with high, wide waistbands that produce a slightly blouson shape, or in ribbed silk viscose for a clingier line. There’s also a polo neck dress in icy blue mesh crochet with a band of fringe at its ankle-length hem.On the subject of everyday wear, there’s a smart-looking pantsuit featuring trousers with a deep waistband, front pleats, and generous volume through the legs—the wide-leg pants trend continues apace. Elsewhere, a cropped jacket with four flap-front pockets in bistretch bouclé tweed “almost feels like knitwear,” Hernandez promised. With the addition of an eco-cashmere turtleneck sweater, it’ll work for when ‘pre-fall’ turns to fall.
7 December 2022
There’s a 20th anniversary in the Proenza Schouler designers’ imminent future. New York fashion’s perennial It boys, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, have been around the block a few times; these days they’re the establishment, and a new generation of young talents is vying for the It boy title. How fast that happens!Arca, the trans musician from Venezuela, opened their show in a loose black tank whose hem was pulled over one shoulder, revealing white silk fringe over her bare midriff and a bubble skirt. From there McCollough and Hernandez explored Latin flourishes, like flamenco ruffles peeking from the hems of generously cut bell-bottoms, polka dots of varying sizes decorating twist-front dresses, and piped bell sleeves that extended past the knees. In the past, they’ve tended to cite travel adventures or their tight circle of girlfriends as influences. But after the show, Hernandez wanted to talk about his roots. “I leaned into my Latin identity; I’m Cuban,” he said. That tight circle of friends is going to like these pieces a lot.The models wore their hair slicked back wet, and their skin was dewy. They looked as if they just stepped off a dance floor or climbed out of the sea. With videos of waterfalls projected onto the marble walls of the venue and an ASMR-triggering soundtrack to match, the collection felt closer to nature than last season’s. Crochet separates, nipple-freeing sheer lace shirts and dresses, and compact knit pieces that seemed to take their cues from swimwear looked like the work of designers who’d like to hold onto a summer feeling for as long as they can—a relatable instinct on this busy September Friday.“We’re just talking about the idea of energy, of joy, of sensuality; these things that sometimes we feel are lost in our lives, to be honest, and we’re trying to find a way to get them back,” McCollough said. Twenty years is no small milestone. How do you sustain energy and joy when you’ve been at something that long? The designers tapped into it this season by working with a community of weavers in Bolivia. “We did it all via email and conversations over the phone,” said Hernandez. “We were able to make four pieces with them and employ them for six months. They were so happy.” But you know who sounded really happy? He did.
9 September 2022
There’s a fabric in this Proenza Schouler collection that’s a real marvel. “We’ve never seen anything like it before,” Lazaro Hernandez said, during a preview. “The sequins are baked into the actual yarn itself, so when you knit it up, they’re all embedded. It looks like Lurex, but it’s a beautiful, spongy piece of knitwear.” The two column dresses they made with the stuff are just about the most elegant things we’ve seen all season. Eveningwear is a neglected category at the moment. Possibly that’s a lingering effect of the pandemic. But the columns’ elegance is matched by their ease. “We love that they’re basically just T-shirt dresses,” Jack McCollough added.In the pre-seasons, the Proenza Schouler duo leans into experimentation. A scroll through these images makes it clear that they’re strongly attracted to texture and hand-feel for resort. In addition to that spongy sequin knit, they used silk velvet for slip dresses and matching sets, a three-dimensional ribbed knit for coordinating cardigans and flares, and a short hair shearling on a belted coat. The saturated colors of the velvet and shearling especially added to their appeal.After texture, their other preoccupation here was shape. It’s tempting to see 1940s proportions in nipped-waist jackets and full skirts whose sculptural hems were reinforced with horsehair. Dior’s 1947 New Look was a repudiation of years of wartime restraint and sacrifice. We haven’t dealt with deprivation on that scale, but designers are determined to conjure an upbeat mood and exuberant volumes are one way to do it. The track pants and frilly ankle socks paired with a different nipped jacket are another, cheekier way to go about it.On the subject of shape, they revisited the corset tops that were the building blocks of their earliest collection. “Old Proenza vibes,” Hernandez said, but updated in suiting fabric for a touch of surprise.
6 June 2022
In the striking main exhibition space of the Brant Foundation, with a violin quintet performing an original composition by Eartheater, Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough embraced a new formality. The collection was a repudiation of the homewear and other forms of wardrobe indolence brought about by two-plus years of the pandemic. With Omicron fading, they’re looking forward to a fall season of strong tailoring and soft dresses whose sophistication is matched by a body-conscious sensuality.The designers are a year shy of their 20th in business. To look back at the Parsons graduation collection that started it all for them in 2003 is to see that it too had a dressed-up formality, but much has changed in the intervening decades. To begin with, Hernandez’s backstage declaration that “we’re sick of sneakers” notwithstanding, there were wrestling shoes in the mix here, along with molded leather ballet flats.Comfortandeaseare fashion’s buzzwords of the moment, relics of a lockdown that remain even as the emergence we’ve been hoping for starts to take shape. The corseted silhouettes that were the first Proenza Schouler signature, however, have been completely rethought for today, constructed from machines that knit in circles, allowing for a seamless, molded look. Can a strapless dress with volume evocative of 18th-century panniers really feel effortless? Yes, if it’s in sculpted knitwear with a circular bias-cut skirt. Hernandez and McCollough gave their tailoring the same waisted look by accessorizing suits with torso-spanning body shapers, or by cutting jackets and coats to wrap across the midriff and button off to the side, the cloth equivalent of a firm hug.If this outing was a reappraisal of their past, it wasn’t reliant on it. A loose-fitting shirtdress with a fluid looped hem stood out for its color, a vibrant purple that they’ve avoided before. The animal print is another new indulgence. At a pre-fall appointment in December, they said they once deemed it too obvious. Their idea here was to allow the print to glitch, as if the color didn’t take in the folds and creases of the fabric as it went through the machine.Ottessa Moshfegh provided a short story that the designers distributed on the show’s bench seats; its title asked “Where Will We Go Next?” That’s a good question, but formality with a side of imperfection—with the stuffing pulled out of it—feels right for the moment we’re in.
11 February 2022
Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough held pre-fall appointments in their Manhattan shop last week for the first time in two years. “We’re a little green at this,” Hernandez said, laughing, as the presentation got under way, but all agreed it felt good to put Zoom previews in the past and see clothes and accessories in close-up.Even in this workhorse season—pre-fall is their biggest of the year—the Proenza Schouler designers revel in the details. “These are urban clothes for intelligent women of today, like all our collections,” said Hernandez, “but there are frivolous elements.”The frivolity came in the form of ostrich feathers trimming the hem of bike shorts and full-leg pants, and beaded crochet bisecting a bubble-hem, halter-neck dress. They also worked with animal print, a motif they’ve more or less avoided until now, thinking it too obvious. One pretty draped dress in white was built with a leopard underlayer visible at the cuffs, hem, and unbuttoned sleeves, like a game of peekaboo.The intelligence and urbanity came via their exploration of silhouette. Pre-lockdown, their jackets were oversized, often with pronounced, masculine shoulders. Post-lockdown, their tailoring has grown narrower, partly out of instinct and partly as a result of client feedback. A bi-stretch crepe jacket buttons high and off-center, hugging the torso, and the matching pants are leggings-slim with zips at the back of the ankles to create kick-flare shapes. A tuxedo jacket worn with a shibori-treated turtleneck and big, fluid blue velvet pants has a swaggering ease.Elsewhere they managed the neat feat of making a white shirtdress feel languid by cutting it loose and adding ruching to the hips. Two other dresses conjured a similar dressed-but-effortless mood for evening; an emerald green knit style was gathered with a jeweled brooch at the waist, and a white sequined column was belted in front with a dramatic, look-at-her cape in back.
6 December 2021