A funny thing happens when you are sitting at a fashion show that is playing music you have listened and danced to for decades only to hear it differently in the context of models walking a runway. This was the experience today at Sacai, where “Keep On Movin’” and “Back to Life,” the two enduring hits from the late 1980s collective Soul II Soul, suddenly sounded like mottos for anyone in this industry—resisting stasis, questioning reality.
The original tracks, which already deliver deep vibes, were entrancingly remixed and spliced like Abe’s signature hybridizations, with Strauss’s “Blue Danube” added for delightful dissonance. Judging by the way he was nodding to the beat, longtime Abe devotee Pharrell Williams was into it. Yet Abe went one step further and worked with Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B and his son, Mahlon Romeo (both in the audience), on a cool collaboration. Bomber jackets, cardigans, shirts, shorts and even a full suit were covered in grainy archive images from the collective’s Sunday night sessions at the Africa Centre in London.
Come to think of it, Abe applies DJ-like skills to developing her collections; they brim with fresh and clever looks, often by sampling and colliding wardrobe classics. Usually, she will combine her men’s and women’s pre-collections, but she explained backstage that this time she opted for a “men’s-focused show” with just a handful of women’s looks. This allowed for a greater survey of all the iterations and permutations, such as the fireman clasps that repeated across black overshirts to yellow jumpers to a washed cotton trench. “We wanted to remove the conventional rules to make something completely new with an authentic language,” said Abe. This season’s pants with their giant outward pouch pockets certainly qualified.
The most obvious menswear flex came from a collaboration with the quintessential American haberdasher instantly recognizable by the logo, a sheep suspended from a ribbon: Brooks Brothers. Standby navy blazers were ingeniously subverted and cooled up—extra layers, extra slits, extra lapels, extra seams—all without mucking up the polish. The double-breasted-blouson combo (incidentally worn by one of the gals) was terrific.
Neckwear was neither strictly tie nor scarf; instead, striped silks were deconstructed like extra-long pussybows; or unfurled and laid atop one shoulder; or else they were composed from strands of tassels the length of a tie; or even formed into a corsage that adorned denim and leather jackets. There will undoubtedly be DIY attempts at these down the road, but it was also the specificity of each fabric that made each version plausible.
As for footwear, Abe has found the perfect new collaboration partner in Birkenstock. Iconic styles merged to surrealist effect: Arizona straps atop the Boston clog surface, and Madrid and Arizona straps fusing together. Some were even adorned with motifs by tattoo artist Dr. Woo (for the time being, these remain show pieces).
Abe was wearing the Soul II Soul T-shirt printed with Jazzie B’s words in bold on the back, “A happy face, a thumpin’ bass, for a lovin’ race.” Has she ever DJ’d? “No!” she laughed, as editor Markus Ebner bestowed her with her alias, “DJ Chitose.”