'12 SS Helmut Lang

2012 Spring Summer

Helmut Lang

Five years into their career at Helmut Lang, Nicole and Michael Colovos put their collection on the runway for the first time. Other designers in their situation might've felt obliged to add a few bells and whistles, but not this husband-and-wife team. They've built a real business on the consistency of their clothes' cool, urban vibe—lots of black, lots of leather, a sharply cut blazer for every slouchy T-shirt. And they didn't veer from the course with their solid Spring collection. The jackets were cropped and cut away high in back; the pants had the easy sensibility of sweats; the tees (and there were plenty of them) were asymmetric, drapey, and layered.

For their prints, the Colovoses always riff on the work of a contemporary artist. This time it was Richard Serra. The oversize brushstrokes added the only note of color in the collection: sunshine yellow. The bra tops were something new (ditto the bared midriffs), but their customers will likely be happy to see them—try finding an edgy bra at Victoria's Secret. The closing looks, with their collages of sequins, leather cording, and embroideries, were a step in a crafty-couture direction the Colovoses hadn't explored before. But don't call them showpieces. "We'd never put something on the runway that we didn't believe in for sales," Michael said. Now that's a novelty.

by. Nicole Phelps

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