Rebecca Minkoff (Q8992)
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Handbag & Clothing Designer
- Rebecca Minkoff LLC
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Rebecca Minkoff |
Handbag & Clothing Designer |
|
Statements
Rebecca Minkoff’s starting point for fall 2020 was rock and roll, so naturally she decided to stage a mock concert on the rooftop of Spring Studios in the middle of a pandemic. For her see-now-buy-now debut, she outfitted her models turned bandmates in Minkoff masks and set up electric guitars, a keyboard, and even a full drum set as props during the presentation. Complete with vintage velour couches, amps, and a tower of production trunks, the event looked like the real deal, and it left you wishing it was.In tune with her moody musician theme, Minkoff kept her collection dark and mysterious. High notes included a bohemian sherpa jacket and a very glam low-cut black sequined blazer. Minkoff stayed true to her edgy side this season by leaning into slim-fit, dark-wash denim and chunkier knits, but made sure to add some simpler feminine touches like puff sleeves to sweeten the grungier looks.Also new this season was the introduction of a few faux-leather handbags, a step toward a more sustainable brand in the near future, when real musicians are (hopefully) able to take the stage one again.
21 September 2020
Rebecca Minkoff built a rainbow-themed playground for her see-now-buy-now spring 2020 collection, complete with a swing set, ice cream stand, and park benches. She reinterpreted the circle of life through a colorful, female-focused lens. Babies and youngsters joined the models to debut the designer’s latest endeavor, an eco-friendly children’s line. Launching the collections together painted a pretty (and realistic!) picture of the Minkoff customer’s transition into womanhood.“Women are complex creatures,” she mused, “which is woven into this collection through symbols like the yin and yang hoodie and calls to action like theFreedomgraphic tees, a reminder that it’s our time.” Minkoff’s goal is to dress women at every stage of life, from the young professional to the first-time mom. To wit, a breast pump and baby stroller became accessories for her bohemian spring looks, ranging from of-the-moment fringe jackets to a billowing blouse and colorful leather shorts.The event was partly a celebration of Minkoff’s past—2020 marks her 15th year in business—but she’s still looking forward, and sustainability is at the top of her to-do list. A first step is with her floral dresses. “All of the printed pieces are left white until an order is placed, reducing waste and chemical use,” she explained. “Over time, an algorithm will learn pattern buys and keep only the top sellers in stock.”Finishing each look were Minkoff’s signature leather handbags. The micro-minis won’t be very practical for the working women and mothers Minkoff dreamed up for her show, but the chain-strap shoulder bags and buckets were large enough to fit all the essentials.
10 February 2020
Fashion week can feel far removed from the realities of life, but this season Rebecca Minkoff set her sights on 9 to 5 dressing. “Working women inspired me, the girls in our office, real people on the street,” shared Minkoff at her studio. “I began the Female Founder Collective last year, and it reinvigorated me.” The platform, which connects female business leaders and fosters awareness of women-owned businesses, served as a fruitful starting point for a collection centered on comfortable options for day. Minkoff covered her bases, moving from the casual (souped-up sweatshirts with puffed sleeves and jeans detailed with playful zebra prints) to the corporate (monochromatic power suits comprised of oversized blazers and cropped pants with a modish flair).Both sides of the spectrum proved palatable, but the dressier pieces packed more oomph. Contrasts of texture served to amplify several of the key motifs. Slacks are infinitely more interesting when they have a coat of glossy PVC, while a range of metallics made pleated skirts and bomber jackets feel distinct from the versions already occupying space in most closets. Fluffy textures on feathered bags or plush shearlings were a welcome touch, as was the news that they’d be offered in vegan and non-vegan versions so that customers could purchase while “staying true to their ethics.”The collection’s most exciting development might be its foray into inclusive sizing; partnering with Stitch-Fix to expand her range Minkoff assessed a mountain of data before finalizing her Spring output. “I wanted to do things right, not just size up,” she explained. “We had so much information about what the customer was looking for.” Granted, it doesn’t take a data dive to know that a gold crackled leather jacket will resonate across sizes, but Minkoff’s diligence bodes well for her brand’s latest endeavor.
7 September 2019
Rebecca Minkoff began with a manifesto of sorts, written by a woman on her team and painted on the wall of her showroom. Its recurring line was “I am many,” and this season the designer focused on the multifaceted, multitasking, modern woman. “This is the idea behind the evolution of the brand and what we stand for,” she said. “When we talk about women, for so long they message you to be one thing, and we’re so many things.” Minkoff hopes to “serve the many different areas of a woman’s life that she needs.”This may be true in the commercial and contemporary pockets of the industry, which Minkoff does inhabit. But there are now so many forward-thinking designers, breaking boundaries not just for women, but all genders. The messaging she refers to feels somewhat dated, as did her response to it. Minkoff contrasted strong shoulders with tight waists, for example, “experimenting with a softness and a hardness that show that tension from being many different things,” she said. She used the same pink rose print on several different fabrics (mesh, chiffon) and layered them. The effect was fine.Minkoff is known for her accessories, and there were some good salable bags here. She’s reissuing her popular fanny pack in two new sizes, along with a see-through plastic version that will surely sell. There were wedge-shaped carryalls, cut-out beach totes, mini shoppers with a silver chain handle, and vegetable-tanned leather goods, like a square bucket with that same chain strap.
13 September 2018
A single muse lay behind Rebecca Minkoff’s entire Spring 2018 output: ’70s music and style icon Stevie Nicks, who had surprisingly not yet inspired the designer until now. “I keep my muses in the time period of the ’60s and ’70s because when you look back, you never think they look dated,” she explained on set at her lookbook shoot. “She’s been on my list of, ‘Oh, I’ve got to get to her,’ and I finally did.”For three separate product drops, Minkoff charts three periods of Nicks’s life. The first is her “feminine romantic” era, and those white lace baby doll dresses are turned into simple eyelet blouses and laser-cut leather bags with studs. The second “spellbound” period is darker, moodier—Nicks in black top hats with lengths of chiffon draped from her arms like bat wings. For this, Minkoff used “magical, mystical symbols,” like tiny stars and crescent moons worked into paisley. The final “eccentric” mood calls for clashing prints and colors, though, in truth, it was a bit difficult to discern much difference. Effectively, the final mix stayed true to Minkoff’s spirit: There were the usual studded leather bags and loose, feminine clothes with subtle ’70s details, like the slight bishop sleeve on a red knit with an even slighter flounce at the wrist.
18 September 2017
Rebecca Minkoff is in the business of giving her millennial clientele exactly what they want when they want it (note her recent see-now-buy-now, blogger-filled Spring ’17 show in L.A.). She isn’t here to be esoteric or idealistic about clothes. The designer sees what the Instagram generation is wearing and what they’re lusting after, and she responds. That being said, Minkoff does have a thing for icons of earlier eras, particularly the 1960s and 1970s, and this season she fell for the Rolling Stones and Anita Pallenberg.Batik and micro-floral prints decorated flowing, bohemian dresses and soft airy blouses that could have belonged to any far-out hippie or style-icon rocker back in the day. Minkoff also showed her best-selling leather moto jackets and covetable neon fur coats. When they were thrown over a branded concert tee with store locations instead of gig destinations, and a cute purple miniskirt with tiered ruffles, it was a match made in New Yorker-meets-Coachella-chick heaven. Once again, Minkoff hit her mark in making cute, attainable clothes for a customer who knows much more about Kendall Jenner than Anita Pallenberg.
11 February 2017
One year ago in Los Angeles,Rebecca Minkoffdebuted a new brick-and-mortar location, an ultra-techy flagship on Melrose. The outpost boasts a digital dressing room request interface to manage selections, beverage requests, and more. With seven other retail outlets now humming along in San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, Minkoff says that with that invaluable feedback, she’s got a better handle than ever before on just who her customer is and what she’s looking for these days (surely her consumer-facing runway show, in its second season for Fall ’16 will aid in that too).A California girl (San Diego), Minkoff set about translating that feedback through a subtly vintage-inflected take on the Golden State. Her youthful shopper, hungry as she is for day-to-night pieces and seasonless staples to stretch a wardrobe investment, will no doubt delight in the boho-print kerchief hem dresses or gauzy embroidered numbers. Their styling could easily slip from Stan Smiths to sky-high platforms after dark; add plush black tights and a shearling topper into the equation and the style has your needs covered from May to November. They’ll no doubt make their way, too, to Indio—at today’s preview, Minkoff nodded to a selection of fringed pieces among her March (read: just-pre-festival season) delivery. Elsewhere were sunny ’70s graphics on some great, enzyme-washed tees; playful French terry separates; beachy sweaters from the brand’s burgeoning knitwear category; and killer lace-up short shorts in a whiskey suede.In places the lineup felt like it could have stood just a dose more of Minkoff’s perspective as a designer rather than so much of her shopper’s taste for off-the-shoulder rompers and other pieces de rigueur. But she’s clearly been listening to her clientele’s feedback, and it was easy to see these pieces, trend-driven and as breezily styled as they are, delighting that customer and having a hearty life in Rebecca Minkoff boutiques worldwide.
7 September 2016
Rebecca Minkoffwas ahead of the curve when it came to the allure of Marfa, Texas. Nearly 10 years ago, Minkoff and her main season stylist Ilaria Urbinati road-tripped through the American Southwest, making a pit stop in the sleepy desert town. It was this journey that inspired the designer’s Resort collection of sunset-hued knits and flowing prairie dresses in prints drawn from the ditzy florals of motel wallpaper. Bags, a strong category for Minkoff, now come with tassels and fringe; as for shoes, there’s a Western boot, but the stars are the new clogs in cowgirl hues with studded straps. Overall, the offering this season is pretty but short of revelatory—Minkoff specializes in already trending pieces that a contemporary shopper knows and loves. As such, the bell-sleeved minidress, the semi-sheer party frock, and the snap-front miniskirt all make appearances in her abridged Resort lookbook.The full set of images will be released in-season, a smart choice for Minkoff, who connects with her consumers through buy-now runway shows, in-store events, and fun social media promotions. “We want to keep the suspense,” she said in her studio, filled with tens—if not hundreds—of pieces that flesh out the Resort collection. With her year-over-year sales from February 2015 to February 2016, when she staged her first consumer-facing show for Spring 2016, up 211 percent, banking on suspense is a yet-to-be-proven technique for the brand, but a risk Minkoff can afford to take.
6 June 2016
Is a new generation of consumers indeed forgoing material possessions in favor of more experiential pleasures? It’s up for debate, but that was the thesis behindRebecca Minkoff’s latest outing. The designer picked up the thread of gypset luxury and ran with it in a way that should please her contemporary clientele. This was a less thematic Minkoff lineup than some others which have nodded to specific muses like Patti Smith and Françoise Hardy, and it was predicated on a general mishmash of worldliness for the shopper who relishes a globe-trotting flair, whether or not she’s strayed far from home.Minkoff’s customer is always top of mind. It bears remembering that beforeTom Ford and Burberry, back in December the designer announced that she’d be showing runway collections timed to when the clothes actually hit stores; on Saturday she’ll hold a #SeeBuyWear Spring show for her fans, bloggers, editors, and more. So what will they want to see, buy, and wear come September? A preview yesterday found Minkoff serving up a cross-seasonal array of styles to tide stockists over across deliveries. There were gauzy peasant dresses, ready-made for Indian summer, but easily teamed with her moto in caramel flannel come cooler days. Outerwear on the whole was strong, including a zip-off shearling vest, and the boxy, whipstitched biker carried over from last season. And with the retail response to last Fall’s foray into knitwear bigger than Minkoff could have anticipated, the designer has expanded in that category exponentially—that’s arguably one of most shoppable bets there is.
10 February 2016