Highlights from Lingerie Fashion Week A/W 2014: NaïS Lingerie
For me, the indie designers are where all the interesting stuff happens at LingerieFW. After all, the entire point of a Lingerie Fashion Week is to showcase that unique mix of lingerie plus fashion, so I'm looking for collections that are dynamic, compelling, and have an unique and interesting point of view. At press, that same, identical t-shirt bra I've seen for three seasons in a row is not interesting to me at an event like Lingerie Fashion Week. There's a place for that, of course, but it's the tradeshow floor... not the runway.
Today's featured LingerieFW designer, NaïS, is a brand I'm not as familiar with, though I have encountered them for a couple of markets now. The NaïS fabric story was very fresh, though I found the actual silhouettes fairly straightforward and uncomplicated. The "stickiest" piece of the entire collection for me is that amazing ikat jumpsuit (shown above). Not only does it summarize the entire NaïS aesthetic in one go, I also believe it's the most editorially friendly piece in the collection and the one with the greatest crossover appeal (I could see it, for example, selling well on ASOS). It's also on-trend in that it works equally well as loungewear or outerwear; you can dress it up or dress it down easily.
On a broader note, I'm also glad that Lingerie Fashion Week has a place and a space for indie designers. NaïS strikes me as a lifestyle brand, combining the bohemian and eclectic with the modern and architectural. And while this collection pushes the NaïS aesthetic into a very positive direction, I can't help but feel that the designer, Anaïs Bouchard, hasn't quite arrived at her final vision for the brand. There's still a bit of developing and growth that needs to happen... which is not necessarily a negative and is, in fact, perfectly normal considering the rather short lifetime of the brand so far. Suffice to say, I am very excited about what's to come for this particular designer next market season.
A couple of final notes... I thought this collection presentation was styled beautifully and with quite a bit of thoughtfulness. There's a cohesive look here, a singular viewpoint that helps bring the observer into NaïS' world. I believe this is exactly the kind of designer and presentation format LingerieFW is best suited for. My only complaint is that I couldn't get an up-close look at any of the pieces on the models (you can learn a lot about a garment from the way it lays on the form), and many of these items just aren't as striking on the hanger. However, that's not so much a critique of the designs as it is of the crowds, so it's neither here nor there.
What do you think of NaïS Lingerie A/W 2014? Are your impressions of the collection the same as mine? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
All photos copyright of The Lingerie Addict.
