If Christopher Esber’s fall collection read automotive, there’s a good reason for that: after re-watching David Cronenberg’s Crash, he decided to transpose upholstered materials, curved metal, padded surfaces, buckles, harnesses and so forth into a sartorial expression. Over Zoom, the designer said that his idea was not to go for oversexuality but rather “a quiet charge” that might emerge from the relationship between skin and surfaces, softness and structure.
“Looking at technology and the body, from airbags and seatbelts to the interior of cars and how we feel protected and enveloped by them, sort of like a womb, is something we hadn’t explored before,” said Esber. It also opened up a highway of possibilities for textures and finish, with a particular affinity for the ’70s.
Esber wasn’t the only designer to tackle mechanical engineering for fall, but his collection was among the most convincing. Take, for example, diamond perforations on a leather skirt, or the retro-plaid lining on a season-defining slouchy bomber. Another bomber, in laminated leather, had a circular shape entirely traced by a zipper and a tech nylon lining that could be zipped out and worn on its own. Though highly technical in execution, it felt easy. Sculptural blazers looked sharp, too. A cocoon-shaped cream sweater had a back made from airbag nylon.
From the chassis, it didn’t take long for Esber to land on the idea of springs and spirals, which are both mechanical and found in nature, he noted. Spirals cropped up as a motif on black lace; he also used them to frame negative space, casting conch-like whorls at the shoulder and hip of a white jersey dress.
Esber hewed mainly to a black palette so he could focus more on fabric manipulation and texture, he said. Dramatic treatments included fur-like cashmere knitwear on a circular jacket, a chevron faux fur coat, and feather-like effects made of shredded silk georgette on a trench shape. Tassels from traditional furnishings got a modernized outing on evening wear or returned in a shaggy treatment on a pale mint evening coat. Racing stripes, also in silk georgette, were individually finished and assembled with piqué stitching on easy caftans and bags. Esber offered that they “look like an open road.” Whatever the destination, with this lineup Esber seemed ready to shift into high gear.