Conner Ives takes inspiration from the ‘it’ girl archetype for AW22.
Conner Ives’ universe has been defined by growing up in Hudson Valley, New York, and this season he is placing the Hudson River Valley tradition under the spotlight. Mirroring the 19th century art movement, Ives wanted to study his archetypes: the modern muses that he grew up witnessing.
Showing on Friday, each look defined a powerful archetype, fueled by his American roots. There was The Career Girl, a portrayal of Anne Hathaway’s role of Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada, representing the layers of confidence through reconstructed Polish Military blankets. Then there was The America’s Next Top Model Girl mirroring the models’ uniforms - a bootcut jean, white camisole and stilettos, worn throughout the iconic Tyra Banks show. The technique behind each look is deeply unique to his way of creating, which is utilising deadstock, upcycling as much as possible, whilst crafting silhouettes that are exceedingly fun to wear. As each model strolled down the runway, a layered sense of the American Girl and its TV/cinema portrayal, moulded and sculpted through media, and embraced by all of us in the 21st century.
In the show, the designer wanted to embrace passion and his struggle with imposter syndrome through referencing Isaac Mizrahi’s Unzipped documentary – expressing the highs and lows of the life of a creator. “If I’m ever remembered for anything; let it be passion,” expressed Ives at the end of his statement, which he delivered in a gracious, modern, slightly campy and intrinsic way of taking us into being one of The Girls - with passion.
