Humberto Leon and Carol Lim called their first-ever Opening Ceremony runway show with a “cool” dictates. By this standard, Spring 2014 promises to be the season of sporty racing stripes, boxy silhouettes, mixed prints, and neon color combos. Leon said, “a love letter to New York, where our company was born, a tribute to Carol’s Korean background and to the street racing culture from our suburban Los Angeles adolescence.”
Beyond the dozen sports cars that roared out onto the runway at the start of the show, street-racing references could be seen in straps, belts and buckles that resembled the safety harnesses and seat belts found in race cars, as well as a humorous zigzag pattern that riffed on tire tread designs. Many of these elements were paired with riffs on traditional Korean garments — magoja (longer jackets) and jeogori (short jackets) and the baggy style of pants called baji in a range of fabrications — including neoprene, which gave some garments a stiff, structured feel. The collection was chock-full of colors and patterns, including the black-and-white checkerboard pattern inspired by racing flags and trippy blue-and-red optical patterns on skirts, and wave prints, daisy prints and stylized landscapes.
The show seemed to stretch on as long as the pier, and the men’s collection, tacked on all at once at the end seemed like an afterthought, but those are small points that shouldn’t overshadow the bigger takeaway that Leon and Lim have fully transformed Opening Ceremony from niche retailer to something much, much more.