Spring is around the corner, and for designers in the fashion sphere, that means autumn and winter are essentially happening next week. While most designers are showing clothes for the colder months, Rebecca Minkoff takes the approach to show upcoming seasonal clothing before the season — a wild concept. In the digital age of ordering clothes online, faster production cycles and, even more, the consumers’ limited attention spans, showing your seasonal collections preceding that season might be the best business decision you can make.
Speaking of the digital age, most designers have opted to digitally showcase their collections online in some capacity, whether it be via Instagram, via Zoom or on the NYFW website. Minkoff, however, has taken this unique opportunity to get creative and showcase her collection in the most 2021 way, via an OnlyFans account. Subscription to the Rebecca Minkoff OnlyFans was free, and the show, ultimately, was shown on social media and on various websites, but it was interesting to see a designer play with the idea of utilizing a different platform for presentation.
The collection itself, featured at Spring Studios in a tropically decorated room, is bohemian-chic by nature. The print-heavy 25-piece ready-to-wear collection between long-flowing maxi dresses and the use of pants in various fabrics. “Our Spring 2021 collection has everything, oversized, studded details, fringe, and moto detailing and 70’s inspired colors and materials,” the designer wrote on Instagram.
Just as this showroom is a take on nature amidst the bustle of an urban setting, Rebecca Minkoff’s SS21 has that duality of creating highly feminine pieces that have masculine undertones. “This collection is really about both subtle and exaggerated details. I wanted to bring you this juxtaposition so that you can express all of your multidimensionality,” Minkoff wrote on an Instagram post. This can be seen in pairing a maroon zebra print alongside maroon leather shorts. Other cheetah, snake and floral prints are paired with solid leather and suede purses and/or jackets. The collection makes use of fringe accents on jackets, purses and shoes.
It’s worth noting that this is one of the few collections that depicts each model in her own face mask. Many designers have decided to forego masks for their shows, but Minkoff embraces this aspect of the world in which we live now. Everywhere you go people are wearing masks and models on the runway shouldn’t be any different. The reality is that, even if a design’s aesthetic is ruined by wearing a mask, people will have to wear a mask when they wear the design in public. Truthfully speaking, a mask on a model’s face should not ruin the aesthetic of a design because the clothing should be able to stand strong on its own rather than rely on the beauty of the model’s face. By choosing to feature masks in a collection, Minkoff is not only setting a good example for the consumer, she is also enhancing her business model by marketing masks that are designed to be worn with her creations.
Minkoff uses the collection as a message of hope for the future. While most collections have been imagined with the idea of returning to normalcy, Minkoff’s creations are based on the idea that change will come, but it will be more gradual. The designer signs off on this idea with a captioned Instagram post, “Here’s to dressing up and wearing heels again.”