Nudity may sound like a counterintuitive starting point for a clothing collection, but Adam Selman’s instincts are always bang on the money. “I went to Hawaii and I found out there was this nudist colony there in the 70s called Taylor Camp,” the designer told i-D after yesterday’s show. (His cheek was decorated with a pink-red lipstick kiss from one of his many friends and fans who’d come backstage to hang out, all decked out in last season’s kitschy-cute bows and plaids.)
From thinking about the au-naturel appeal of sun-kissed hippies, Selman moved on to ponder the broader meanings of “exposure” and “exposing sides of clothing you’re not supposed to see.” He flipped a 50s Dior dress inside out to see its inner workings. He looked at negligees and lingerie. He even thought about how his own uniform, white overalls, might look worn inside out.
Mix in some Garden Isle prints and you got long white dungaree dresses, billowy white pants covered in fat tropical flowers (in hibiscus yellow and pink), as well as teeny-tiny white cross-over tops, and floor-length skirts in floral lace. The pieces that most clearly referenced underclothes were tiered confections of white tulle (little tops and long skirts) that resembled both crinolines but also the free-flowing pieces the designer says he already sees girls wearing on the street in New York: “I love that whole free and easy thing.”
As the models walked past a dazzling arrangement of tropical flowers, exploding with Birds of Paradise and peonies, it made you want to do summer all over again. Or at least it made you look forward to next summer, when you’ll be able to wear the collection’s adorable Converse-espadrille hybrids — cutout Chucks with stacked jute soles and laces that criss-crossed up the ankle. “I love Converse! I’m a big Converse guy,” said Selman, raising up his own pristine pair as proof.
Credits
Text Alice Newell-Hanson
Photography Jason Lloyd-Evans