Living, as this writer does, in the heart of west London, you’re destined to run into your fair share of Rejina Pyo. The British designer has developed a reputation as one of the UK’s best-loved—and most wearable—new names, steadily building her fanbase since she burst onto the scene in 2017 with *those* puffy cotton dresses. For pre-fall ’21 her fans have more to fawn over, with the added bonus of being able to shop the entire collection on her website immediately.
The clothes themselves—shot for a lookbook in a nondescript, oh-so-80s house in the suburbs—encapsulate the full spectrum of in-between seasons like pre-fall. For every flirty, floaty gingham day dress there is a snug-fitting leather trench coat. Candy-colored slingbacks are worn with socks (albeit chic, sheer printed ones) and heavy-cotton suiting is worn with summery slides.
Highlights include a striped two-piece set with an ultra-oversized ruffled collar, a Phoebe Philo-esque tan skirt suit, and a particularly fetching pair of fluffy shearling mules. Pieces are made with sustainably focused materials, including regenerated cashmere, recycled denim, and organic cotton.
“It’s a collection to be lived in, a ‘come as you are’ attitude,” reads the collection’s press notes, and it’s to view Pyo’s pre-fall offering and not recognize the same paradoxical clashes that have taken over our own wardrobes in lockdown. Masculine and feminine, forward-thinking and nostalgic, glamorous and low-key—2021’s sartorial ethos is to embrace the contradictions. When the results can look this polished, why wouldn’t you?
