A big story on the Fall 2015 runways was that of memory and nostalgia. The ways we remember the past and reinterpret it cropped up in Alessandro Michele’s vintage-ish stylings at Gucci and Pablo Coppola’s assemblages of sport detailing with classic posh European tailoring at Bally. It’s no coincidence, then, that the influence of Wes Anderson’s 2001 film, The Royal Tenenbaums, could be felt in both. The film itself is a remembrance—as costume designer Karen Patch points out to me over the phone, “The story starts with reading a book, and so [the film is] his memory of his family. It’s a memory rather than a reality”—and as such it allows the characters to wear clothing that is blissfully strange, albeit luxe and stylish.
On the runways this season, Patch’s creations for the film served as inspirations for the midi minks and fur-lined loafers at Gucci; designer sweatbands paired with suiting at Bally; and a true look-by-look homage at Lacoste. (Lacoste, in fact, worked with Patch to custom-produce the striped polo dresses Margot Tenenbaum, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, wears in the movie.) “It’s gratifying to think that my work has influenced and stimulated the work of others,” Patch says, noting that “designers aren’t really imitating [the costumes], they’re influenced, just as I was influenced, and they’re doing whatever they do with it.”
From left, Bally Fall 2015,Gucci Fall 2015, and Lacoste Fall 2015 looks.
It is somewhat remarkable that 14 years after the film’s release, the stylings of Margot, Richie, and Chas are just as influential as the year the movie opened—and not just in fashion: An art exhibit of works inspired by Anderson’s films opened in New York this past weekend, drawing out the city’s best Margot and Richie impersonators. "Why does it all still seem relevant?” Patch intones slowly. “It’s that the costumes are influenced by classics, but with a twist…It’s familiar in some way, but it looks different. When you put that Lacoste dress, which is a classic, with a fur coat and a classic bag—the Birkin bag—and just a Bass loafer, we’re putting things that normally wouldn’t be put together, but they’re favorite pieces,” she offers, adding, “I think that’s what I’m seeing on the runway, too—putting things together in a different way.”
That explains designers’ newfound fascination with the family from 111 Archer Avenue. The Tenenbaums represent a nostalgia that isn’t tied to any specific era—their style isn’t a rehashing of boho layers or mod shapes—but rather to fashion on the whole. They wear items we know, things we’ve loved, and mix them together in an offbeat and uncanny way. “I think that’s why [Margot and Richie’s costumes] resonated with people,” Patch says, “because they remembered [Margot and Richie’s outfits] from their own childhood but saw it in a new way.” And perhaps that’s why we’re so obsessed with and hungry for items with a Tenenbaum-like flair: We remember their clothing not only from the film, but from our real lives, and are allowed to relive those memories again thanks to fashion’s new interpretations. “I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum, you know?” mused the family’s neighbor and hanger-on, Eli Cash. Now we all can be. Read more http://www.missydressesau.com/bridesmaid-dresses.html