The Fall 2014 Public School show was convincing proof of the value of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, which designer duo Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne won last November to the tune of $300,000. A full house, with everyone from the anointer herself Anna Wintour to Swizz Beats and Kelly Rowland in the front row, was present for the pair’s first runway show, which showed they were putting their prize money to good use. Also showing womenswear for the first time, Chow and Osborne brought an elevated sense of refinement to their usual streetwise style, with clean coats and and slick jackets and loose trousers, all topped off by a collection of hats that Pharrell is surely itching to get his hands on. There was a confident use of color, from the rich brick of Grace Mahary’s sharp cape to the shimmering forest of Alexander Beck’s anorak. The collection had an effortless ease, in the oversized sweaters, in the plaid shirts tied around the waist, in the casual layering of a overcoat on top of a shirt on top of a hoodie. Chow and Osborne have always worked from the pulse of the city, bringing a youthful vitality and an urban bent to their pared-down designs, but here it was clear they were reaching for something more. It was a vision with evocative clarity, one that had an almost Japanese feel in its simplicity and its innovation. The clothes were collected and confident, marking a major step forward in the line’s evolution—just what you’d expect from two young guys who just got tapped as the Next Big Things.
Review by Jonathan Shia
Images by Melodie Jeng for Models.com
Casting by Andrew Weir for ACW (ACW Worldwide)
