Surprising, alterna-cool at Tod's
There’s a cool breeze coming from The Peninsula suite, home to the Tod’s spring/summer collection media presentation for the day. Shoes were propped on tables, bags decadently arranged by sofas in sweet pastel candy hues.
Most striking was a set of suede footwear in dusty hues of cornflower, lavender and fawn. A collaboration with Jefferson Hack, co-founder of the seminal Dazed & Confused and editor of Another magazine, the limited collection lent Tod’s an unerring attitude of cool. Hack’s partnership provided the classic Italian house with some subversive-hip perspective.
What a Hack
“I was thinking of quite tomboyish, or at least tough, girls and I couldn’t help obsessing over Lee Miller,” he observes in the New York Times. “I have the biggest crushes on dead girls. Lee Miller is a girl I am in love with. For the man, I am not sure I really had one reason as strong as that; I just like the style of many of my male friends. I love it when I see girls wearing boys’ styles of shoes. I think it can be super elegant, and also at the same time strong and confident.”
Jefferson Hack with Tod’s chief Diego Della Valle Dubbed “No-Code,” the collection is designed to be worn anywhere, anytime since it “breaks with convention and is untethered to the formal codes of dress or casual attire,” according to Tod’s chief Diego Della Valle. Thus: No-Code.
Della Valle is clearly a fan of Hack’s work, noting that his favorite style from the collection would be the lace-up. Hack, meanwhile, is drawn to the slipper, which he thinks is “fresh.” “I wanted these shoes to have a reason to exist, to be shoes that my friends really wanted to wear,” he comments.
Hack has a fresh eye when it comes to all things sartorial, as reflected in his publications, which critics consider not just of-the-moment but also of-the-future.
“I am not a designer,” Hack is quick to declare to Vogue UK. “Please don’t call me that. I respect the work of real designers too much to try and pretend to be one! This collection is the product of a collaboration where I was invited to bring my point of view to Tod’s. I oversaw every element and worked closely with talented designers at Tod’s and an amazing support team of my own. Together we created an identity for the collection that I am very proud of.”
Clothes are like pasta
Even the sneakers from Tod’s men’s collection seem to have inhaled some of the rarified air of Hack’s hip retinue. On the women’s side, the fringed tote evoked summery destinations and Kate Moss, a former inamorata of Hack’s.
Lam likens the new classics to pasta. “Flour, water, farm fresh egg and a pinch of salt. Simple ingredients combined to create the daily Italian essential, pasta. With a tweak here and there, a simple deft of hand and a slight recalibration, what is essential can be special and yet remains a daily requirement.”
The women’s tote was reincarnated with a touch of fringe. Flats and loafers get a fresh facelift in refreshing sorbet hues. Sandals earn their nautical stripes with jaunty straps and fuss-free shapes. Lam’s philosophy in designing for a label with a legendary heritage is not to work from scratch or forget the past, but to embrace the label’s iconic shapes and layer elements, marrying yesterday’s aesthetic with today’s zeitgeist.
On the garment front, the label is pushing its washable suede garb, seen here in a supple navy bomber jacket trimmed with gold zippers and buttons, and a paneled shift dress ending demurely just at the knee in a bright sapphire. Tod’s creative director Derek Lam has added surprising little details to each piece, like the addition of leather — as seen on a chiffon blouse embellished with a leather-covered button by the side of the neck.
The magic, it seems, is in the minutiae.
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In the Philippines, Tod’s shoes, bags, and accessories are exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc. (SSI) and are available at the boutiques located in Greenbelt 4, Ayala Center, Makati and Rustan’s Tower, Shangri-La Plaza Mall.
