The T-shirt from Stella Ishii’s Pre-Fall Collection 6397 reads, “Their silhouettes evoke a sense of the seasons, mystique, and the living woman.” Designer Lizzie Owens explains that the word was extrapolated from Martin Margiela. His Own Words is a documentary interviewing the elusive designer Ishii. Not only is it certainly an apt representation of Margiela’s work, but it’s also in line with what Ishii and her team have been building at this very New York label.
“This is a story about a woman living, that’s all,” said Judy Collinson, who joined Ishii’s team earlier this year. The four women, Collinson and Ishii, Owens and Jenny Smith, now design collections virtually by committee. Booking a showroom at The News is more like a roundtable than a standard tour through the clothing racks. The result of this dynamic is a nuanced assortment that takes into account the many ways and places women dress at any point in their lives.
Here Owens challenged himself to consider only natural fibers. The team explained that ditching synthetics means thinking differently about fabrics, especially when it comes to giving materials like cotton and silk a bit of body through texture. Ishii boiled the pinstriped wool before cutting it into plush pieces, and embroidered the weightless silk slips with polka dots to give the pieces additional shape. The latter was one of the great dresses that felt like new territory for 6397, and what really stood out was the jersey sheath that featured a curved center-front seam. “We’ve made more dresses this season, and the rule is that they have to look good over pants,” Owens said. These specificities are what make the 6397 so special.
