Ingo Wilts brought an elevated sense of refinement to the final day of Boss Ready To Wear Fall/Winter 2019 New York Fashion Week with his fall collection for the Boss man and woman.
The sleek and traditional offerings for men and women didn’t stray far from the brand’s tailored clothing heritage, but this wasn’t your grandfather’s suit: Wilts effortlessly contemporized the lineup by injecting sportswear and athletic elements into the assortment. For example, luxurious men’s topcoats were paired with slim joggers; a suede bomber jacket blended seamlessly with updated cargo pants, and nylon anoraks were given an update with a variety of pocket treatments.
Leather suiting was a fresh, modern look for the Boss woman; ditto to color-blocked or pleated paneling details on topcoats, for instance, a stellar plush shearling-blocked camel coat. The designer also noted the importance of his new, shorter skirt length, paired with sleek, over-the-knee boots, casual knits and jackets.
While in no way flashy or embellished, the monochromatic color palette of the rich overcoats, modern suit silhouettes, shearlings and sweaters were modernized by adding ribbing to pullovers and pants, extra buttons on the sides of coats and belts that disappeared into the fabric in the rear of topcoats.
“The collection was built on our heritage of suits and tailoring,” Wilts said, “but it’s much softer and rounder. Fabrics have volume but they’re light and soft.” He said last year’s men’s collection was “very constructed and utilitarian, but this is much softer,” even in the padded pieces (skirts for women, pullovers and coats for men).
Most of the collection was centered around the brand’s signature colors of camel, gray, navy and white, but Wilts offered a jolt of color — hot pink and cool yellow — to complement them. The unexpected use of color — like a pink blazer and mid-length skirt with up-to-there slits in the front and back — was a welcome addition and blended seamlessly with the lineup. Wilts’ only print included a new version of a check — an exploded pattern that he used in double-breasted men’s suits and overcoats in black-and-white and in a variation of camel for women’s dresses. “I liked the idea of a check,” he said, “but I wanted it to be different.”
Without an overriding theme for the season, the offering was refreshingly simple and allowed the workmanship of the tailoring to shine. The show ended with Wilts’ interpretation of creative black tie: in this case, powder blue or off-white tuxedos for men in single- and double-breasted models that showed Hugo Boss is really playful at heart.
