Charles Jeffrey Loverboy RTW Spring 2021
Charles Jeffrey’s busy spring collection channeled many of the issues and emotions that 2020 has brought to the fore — diversity, inclusion, anxiety, hurt, comfort and healing. He tapped the photographer Tim Walker to create the melting, distorted images of the collection, called “The Healing,” which appear in a book set to be released this week.
Salvador Dalí’s moustache will no doubt be twitching with pleasure from the beyond the grave at the sight of the oversized pink feet sprouting from a distorted white leg; plaid-clad models with pin heads and platform shoes as big as boulders; and clownish, stretched-out heads wearing printed scarves or bucket hats with a repeating Loverboy logo.
The collection itself was fun, alive with color, psychedelic optical prints and a wacky punk sensibility. Jeffrey worked bright tartan checks into dresses, jackets and tailored trousers with a puckered surface, and used bubble, heart and starburst tie-dye patterns for knee socks and tailored suits. White denim got the Henri Matisse treatment with painterly splashes of color.
Men with braids wore swingy kilts and fishnets, and there were knits galore — sweaters with rainbow zigzags, stretchy leggings and an animal-printed hooded cape with little ears. Other, oversized sweaters looked as if they were grown in a Petri dish — a mix of textures and color and amoeba-like shapes and cutouts.
Men and women of various shapes and sizes showed off the collection, although this wasn’t the first time that Jeffrey trumpeted the great and diverse symphony of humanity.
In June, the designer launched an exuberant, unisex capsule collection featuring knitwear, jersey, T-shirts, hoodies and accessories with splashes of color, and placement prints, and images of the designer with long lashes and kiss curls.
Five percent of the proceeds from sales of that collection went donated to Kaleidoscope Trust, an organization supporting the rights of LGBTQ people in countries where they are discriminated against or marginalized because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Launch Gallery: Charles Jeffrey Loverboy RTW Spring 2021
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