Being the first show of the season feels “a little like going back to school” says Chris Kutnz, one half of the sister-brother team that makes up the label Nicholas K. His sister, Nicholas or Nic for short, said that this season she was inspired by 1970s movie Soylent Green, a sci-fi movie that speaks of a terrible future where society starts to break down. “I thought of them as futuristic nomads with a 70s vibe.”
To that end we saw a lot of natural and nude colors that made her intended effect as they were reminiscent of desert nomads. As the show progressed her color choices eased into quartz, steel, rust and periwinkle. She drew on Lyonel Feininger, an Expressionist painter for her color palette this season. A look at his painting ‘Gaberndorf II’ and you can see striking similarities in their colors. Her womenswear is always feminine and stylish. She relies on a bias-cut in the dresses which make the fabric hang better and in general is “much more elegant.” Her rust colored tessly dress with a short shirt, shorts and scarf, all rust with Nicholas K’s own wedges was a perfectly example.
My favorite look was a simple hoodie, shirt cato short combo. Sometimes the menswear can come off as clunky with jackets on top of hoodies on top of Tees but she seems to understand the necessity for a man to be unencumbered by his fashion. Another stand-out piece of the menswear was a terrific raw white knit sweater with steel and periwinkle accents.
Speaking to them after the show I remarked on the choice of 3 large, stained glass pendant/necklaces used in the show. Chris told me, “Nic made those herself! She is into stained glass now.” He also told me that he loves to work with his hands and was welding the frames. Therein devolved the discussion to talk of tools and carpentry and other things that men are wont to talk about before circling back to the topic at hand. I asked Nic what was in store for us in future seasons. Smiling she says, “Next season my inspiration is the Arctic!” Perfect for such a devotee to anoraks and jackets! Can’t wait to see what they have in store for us!
