“White Lotus” intrigue came to New York Fashion Week Saturday night when Jon Gries (that would be the actor who played Tonya’s husband, Greg) walked the runway at Eckhaus Latta.
A teaser for Season Three set during fashion month? One can dream.
“He’s our friend’s boyfriend and he asked to do it,” Mike Eckhaus explained backstage. “But our friend also said, you can reject him, he should feel rejection in the fashion industry.”
“He’s a wonderful man but it’s not our normal thing to do a celebrity on the runway,” explained Zoe Latta of their initial reticence. “He just wanted to get into the modeling character.”
He was a natural, completely stoic in a yellow-and-green mohair sweater that looked like an abstract painting, with wide-legged linen pants. And it was just the kind of delightfully oddball surprise that makes Eckhaus Latta consistently interesting.
Another surprise: the men’s and women’s brand built on denim delved into sex, with a dark and foggy runway set that had models slinking around the seats. The sophisticated and chic clothes gave Rick Owens-meets-Marni vibes, including clingy seamed knits in black and gray, shearling pelts and filmy amber-hued organza separates.
While bringing a new level of emotion to play, they kept wearability top of mind. A black cardigan jacket had zippers undone over the breasts, a two-way zipper front and back skirt was topped by a luxe looking shearling vest and leather opera gloves, and siren dresses came sheer or slashed at the sides.
“We have always had that language…it didn’t feel nude to us but more like a refinement and perfection of the kind of the openness we’ve always had,” Latta said when asked about the development.
There were also plenty of the brand’s signature arty-comfy-sporty pieces, like Barbie pink corduroy side snap track pants, hand-painted multicolor stripe or wax-coated wide-legged jeans, gossamer thin tanks, color dappled mohair sweaters cut in edgy shapes, easy tailoring and 1990s-looking linen apron dresses and skirts. It added up to their most exciting collection to date, one that should catapult the brand into a new commercial strata.