In a wrecking-ball world, Lauren Manoogian proposes a minimal intervention approach to design. She got to this place by shutting out the noise. Unpacking boxes from a recent move she came across mementoes of shared experiences and thought: “This is [the] source inspiration. This is what makes me want to do all the things. And I feel like somehow looking or going back and thinking about what makes you tick and what makes you want to even make something in the first place, it’s like an accumulation of these meandering experiences you had when you were younger.”
At the same time that she was accessing her intuition and letting her imagination wander, Manoogian was wielding her scissors with precision, explaining that she “just sort of cut things and then it was put on the body, which is literally how I draped everything.” Turn a rectangle or a square on its side and straight lines fall softly. In the case of the opening look, Manoogian also achieved a starkly graphic one-shoulder neckline. Working with stripes, “was an interesting way of following the textile around the body,” the designer said. The best use of these was on a handknit maxi sweater coat where hanging threads revealed the physical construction of the piece and also read as trailing thoughts.
The most distinctive aspect of Manoogian and Chris Fireoved’s fall collection has to do with the approach to the human form. “I was thinking of the body as a bit of an abstraction. What can you put on this body? And it’s like your body’s inside of a type of architecture or a shape that it can correspond to, or it can make the body totally different,” she said. Revealing seamless knits were a surprise. Elsewhere, sharp shoulders were created by doubling over a single piece of fabric into a dress. Emphasis was given to collars and waistlines by the gentle gesture of folding, a physical manifestation of the brand’s philosophy. “We want people to feel something, which is peace or calm or clarity,” Fireoved said.
