Sander Lak drew his audience during his show into a dream world of light and color that morphed from one tone to another.The room was bathed in blue, pink, purple and red lights that intensified the collection’s unusual palette — teal, sage green, brown and ombréd peach and ice blue, red and dusky blue. It looked beautiful, upbeat and very feminine.
Lak made everything look and feel soft — the (degradee) colors, the fabrics, the shapes. The hues melted into each other. Silhouettes came in fluid satin drapes and swirls, and furs — real and faux — added plush texture. The clothes don’t fall in line with any trend. Here, the looks had something in common with draped modern dance dresses cut with lots of movement. A spare jumpsuit topped with a fur stole would have qualified as minimal if not for its bell sleeves and bell-bottom legs. Shift dresses wrapped in tulle around the shoulders were pretty, interesting but not too out there, and there were lots of great coats — teddy bear furs and a holographic trench.
It was designer Sander Laks third collection with his label SiesMarjan. And he embraced fantastical color and free-flowing silhouettes for a look that is otherworldly in a sweet but subversive way.
First and foremost, the lineup was an earnest celebration of the magic of color. Lak has an eye for daring palette combinations that ricochet off each other — magenta and nude; sorbet orange, mint green and beige; acid blue and brown. Instead of tempering the bold tones, he cast them on fabrics that intensified the dreaminess of the hues.
Sporty touches modernized the flou, such as an iridescent dress that was ruched around the bodice but zipped up like a windbreaker. Those details — zippers, snaps, utility pockets — brought the ethereal look down to earth.
Dutch designer Sander Lak was the talk of town yesterday in New York. His fresh and relaxed debut-collection – after working for years as headdesigner at Dries van Noten and – was a welcome change of style between all the heavy, furry and layered styff people had been watching over the past days. The name Sies Marjan is a combination of his parents’ given names. The Dries influence was notable, most obviously on his familiar use of color combinations: warm pastels offset by natural tones. The freshness was in the more urban, utilitarian hand.
Lak sent out a beautiful wispy silk floral mid-length dress with a twisted cutout detail at the bodice, followed by a cargo pant and tunic version. But it was the Impressionist-printed jacket and matching wrap skirt, adorned by a fur stole worn like a slouchy backpack, that set the tone.
A disheveled button-down shirt, with oversize trousers was next-generation chic. Lak also paired languid tiered knits or big imperfect-ruffled blouses with diaphanous skirts, and showed trench coats that hung from the models’ backs on halter straps. It was all very, very cool.
Our own fashiondictionary Real Highlander There are only a few. Famous ones are Sonia Rykiel, Karl Lagerfeld, Giorgio Armani and Vivienne Westwood. They're around for at least 75 years and have designed over 750 different collections. The rumour goes they survive by sucking blood of male virgins to revitalize in between seasons.