We’re pretty sure most criminals don’t look this good. For the Public School presentation at NYFW: Men’s, design partners Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne put on a police lineup with a group of badass-looking models for the latest Spring/Summer 2016 collection. Black, white and navy were the shades of the season and they were styled in mostly monochromatic ensembles that forced the eye to focus on the complete look rather than individual pieces. But this overarching street-wise look is exactly what they were shooting for.
The collection followed the Public School aesthetic—a cool take on neutral colors, street clothes and comfortable silhouettes that almost anyone could pull off. “We wanted to show unity and that everybody is the same when lined up next to one another,” Chow told WWD during the presentation. “We’re trying to build a Public School uniform, sharp tailoring mixed with athletic cues where we play with proportion and a whole bunch of attitude.”
The only downside to a uniform, especially for a new brand, is their lack of variety. While this won’t be a problem for most Public School fans who revel in the dark colors and consistently cool cuts, we’d love to see them push the envelope a little. We’ve seen plenty of designers opt for a uniform look with their collections, but it doesn’t need to be a literal uniform. Maybe the guys took the jailbird representation a little too far this season.
