Eckhaus Latta celebrates ten years of artistry at Essex Market.

For their twenty-first collection, downtown fashion heroes Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta opted for a subtle, sombre palette. Besides a few splashes of bright pink, the collection was dominated by earth tones: sand, pale green, charcoal, and oxblood. Still, silver glitter on some of the models’ faces conveyed a sense of celebration for the brand’s tenth anniversary. Since their debut a decade ago, Eckhaus Latta have become one of the most beloved establishments of a particular NYC art crowd. For their anniversary, they invited local artists and friends of the brand, like designer Maryam Nassir Zadeh and artist/writer Aria Dean, to represent them on the runway. Actress Hari Nef, who worked with the brand as intern, casting director, and model early in her career, returned in a brilliant, unconventional suit. Underneath a black jacket, a panel of fabric running down her chest was held in place by a web of strings, a kinky accoutrement to refined formality. Other highlights from the collection included a chainmail dress, a striped, keyboard print turtleneck, and a sheer “midnight dress in nuit.”

With typical irreverence, the show notes satirised trend forecasts ( “CROOKED KNUCKLE (TIMELESS)” ), expressing a loose, self-aware relationship with their status as a brand widely known as (IN). The show took place in the former Essex Market at Essex and Delancey on the Lower East Side. The choice of the New York landmark as a venue felt proper for a brand continually coming into its own as a staple of the city.

Writer Amber Later.