The scent of fresh flowers guided Sandy Liang’s attendees towards the The Standard Hotel’s warm, wood-paneled Highline Room. But whatever romantic ambiance it conjured was quickly injected with a bit of unexpected swaggering energy, courtesy of Drake’s latest banger, “Summer Sixteen.”
“We had a playlist of fashion music set aside for this, but then we decided to put on rachet stuff so everyone would be dancing and vibing,” Liang laughed as the all trap soundtrack yielded Ty Dolla Sign’s opus “Blasé.” “It’s my gym music,” the designer’s associate Michelle piped in as I scanned the room, trying to catch someone mid-dab.
If the soundtrack bears any connection to Liang’s collection, it’s that it often makes good driving music; and this season was about breaking from the city — if only for a little while. “The whole story is a city girl who’s a little sick of it,” Liang explained. “So she hops into her vintage Range Rover, goes upstate, goes for a hike. It’s sort of about just getting away.”
But don’t mistake Liang’s road trip for a respite in full-on crunchy country, Carole King string plucks and all. Liang’s DNA is downtown cool. Her looks came styled with hiking boots, but also gently frilled socks. A few of the offerings seemed hillside hike appropriate — including some boxy-cut denim and a full, subtly patterned frock — but Liang also offered those covetable leather jackets and pops of pale pink shearling. Her girl might be gone for a day or two, but she’s still getting breakfast in the LES on Sunday.
Though many of Liang’s straight but sexy shapes were familiar, the season saw some exciting experimentation within them. “I love playing with something that’s typically associated with an idea and turning it on its head,” said Liang. One example: tweed. Chanel’s storied standby saw some bold cuts, slits, and slashes. Liang also managed to make the perfect puffa jacket out of tweed, putting a youthful new twist on the otherwise buttoned up classic. “I named it after Drake,” Liang noted in homage to Toronto’s coziest. “It’s called the Drizzy.”
Credits
Text Emily Manning