Jay Godfrey S/S 2015: A Mis-Matched Collection Of Western Americana & Rock 'N' Roll
It's that time of year again—New York Fashion Week. One of the first designers showing this season was Jay Godfrey, who channeled a whole lot of western Americana, rock 'n' roll and body-conscious tailoring in his Spring/Summer 2015 collection. With no clear direction and pieces that seemed to have no cohesive connection, it was quite literally a rendition of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly—sans Clint Eastwood. Going a little heavy-handed on the Hollywood interpretation of the Old West, the collection saw excessive use of fringe on split leg gowns, mini-dresses and even coats, but that's not to say the line was without merit. Sprinkled into the collection were lady-like pieces that kept everything from teetering into costume territory, and a few designs were downright wearable.
Inspired by the rockers of the '60s and '70s (who, unfortunately for Godfrey, were also big lovers of the fringe), the New York designer chose to feature cropped tuxedo jackets, bibbed shirting and bias-cut hemlines to give everything an edge. At the same time he incorporated loose, swinging lace, which seemed to cover the gamut of Mad Men to Woodstock. As a collection it failed miserably and none of its original inspiration could be drawn from the mis-matched presentation, but as individual pieces they were a surprising success, and one could easily imagine these designs on bloggers, editors and fashion lovers everywhere—just not in the same closet.
His eclectic palette also stretched to his choice of fabric as the designer used tea-stained ivory lace, suede fringe, embellished fabrics and stretch denim, the latter of which was used by Godfrey for the first time this season. While the collection was clearly meant as a juxtaposition between masculine and feminine elements with bold prints and contrasting lace or tailored jackets and flowing skirts, it came off more skewed than intended. We could absolutely see ourselves wearing a few pieces like the fitted tuxedo jackets or lacy black skirt, just not the fringe dress—never, ever the fringe dress.
