NYFW: Eckhaus Latta Opens Pandora’s Box And Breaks Free From The Mould
With 13 years in business, the independent label finds its resolve as a brand slicing its own path
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)
How does a brand like Eckhaus Latta—especially one that is spearheaded by a conceptual approach to clothing the body and a mainstay in a creatives’ uniform from Bushwick and beyond—compete against the incessant chatter of the fashion industry? This season, the conversation lamenting the difficulties of running an independent fashion label reached its peak as many chose to eschew the conventional runway model. (Yet in the same breath, ten new emerging designers join the NYFW schedule to make their debuts.)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)
Balancing consumption with creative output has always been a fine needle to thread. Thankfully, the label’s co-founders, Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta, both got their start in textiles at the Rhode Island School of Design and have been honing their craft ever since. All this to say that the challenges of presenting a unique vision amongst the flurry of micro aesthetics and rampant consumerism weighed firmly on the designer’s minds for the Fall/Winter 2024 season. A youthful playfulness remained at the core of the brand’s DNA, but the collection felt more cohesive and resolute in conveying the mood of now. Eckhaus Latta opened Pandora’s box 13 years ago with emotive knitwear and skin-conscious silhouettes. Now, they’ve found their resolve as a brand immune to noise, happily slicing its own path.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)
This came to a fold in the blank show space of a barren industrial office in Hudson Square. To the tune of Lana Del Rey’s “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have – but i have it”, models like perpetual muse Paloma Elesser walked with decisive poise. Clean lines and cubist patterns underscored a collection that didn’t rely on seducing the audience but offered a wearable suite of wardrobe staples rife with Eckhaus Latta-isms. (Diaphanous mesh shirting, maxi dresses cut with satin fringe, a chest-bearing ‘vest’ reminiscent of ropes.)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)
New textures and variants emerged in the form of tanned shearling cuffs on vegan leather jackets made from laminated felt, fluid organza layered silk slip dresses, pleated corduroy and a type of pleated oxblood jacket featuring phrases like “Bells: In, Whistles: Out”. It was this sentiment that defined the collection— is now proudly emblazoned on the back of key styles: “We should put it all in a box… whatever.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 10: A model walks the runway at the Eckhaus Latta show during New York Fashion Week on February 10, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Albert Urso/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)
