No crushed velvet, ruffles, or other trend du jour was seen in Spencer Badu’s collection. Instead, Badu – the mind behind his eponymous label S.P. Badu – chose to create a collection of timeless staples for a place beyond our time. For the Toronto-bred designer’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection, in conjunction with London Fashion Week, the designer brought his post-gender world of his dreams to reality. The conceit of Badu’s line is to create a world, if only in his own collection, where gender is just an antiquated notion. His pieces float seamlessly between men’s and women’s norms, never falling too far into either direction.
Badu’s knack for playing with dimensions through architectural tailoring came to light this season through his proposition of unfamiliar shapes – elephantine pants and tight-cut tops as well as origami-esque draped tops. A tight, silver zippered leotard was futuristic in concept. Paired with billowing pants, it was more the uniform of a space-age club kid than a utilitarian uniform. Moodier manifestations of a workman’s jackets were given a darker treatment, through zippered sleeves, heavy silver snaps and larger militia pocketing. Snap-side billowing pants were reminiscent of the tear-aways of our youth but held much more stature. As a focal point in the collection slightly flared pants, hoodies and tunics had oversized grommet detailing. As the cherry on top of each look, slick patent thigh high boots that stopped nowhere short of the hip.
Although Badu’s collection is relevant to the times, each piece stands alone as a solid investment piece. Between the almost scientific attention to detail and his knack for eye-grabbing architectural tailoring, he’s managed to create wardrobe staples for a new generation.
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