Photo by Evan Hall
FASHION
Kevan Hall Plies His F/W 2022 Trading Post! Collection
Los Angeles designer Kevan Hall took to the runway for only the second time in 20 years to present his Trading Post! collection at CFDA Runway360 on Feb. 12 as part of New York Fashion Week. The collection evokes a burgeoning time when travelers would meet along trade routes to exchange wares, folklore and handcrafted textiles from Mali to Morocco to the legendary Tarshish and is distinguished by Hall’s signature looks of elegance and modernity for a much-needed return back to formality.
Hall’s use of regional fabrics accented with blackened gold and copper metallics reimagines a glorious era of seafaring trade and opulent beauty. The womenswear collection includes textured prints inspired by Northern Africa that are transformed into timeless signature pieces. By incorporating rich jacquards, matelassé and brocades, Hall takes us on a journey through history, locating us at a unique intersection of time and place.
Set among a warehouse of traditional and contemporary Moroccan and Middle Eastern furniture and antiques, the show started with elegant daydresses in abstract floral and animal prints, then led into more–sharply tailored pieces in weighted materials such as brocade and followed with Hall’s classic eveningwear ensembles. The latter materialized this season as gowns done in bold metallic florals with sensuous, heavy drapery creating cascades of movement and fluidity. The final looks took on the feel of the Islamic Golden Age through the use of black and gold sequins on gowns and suiting, as well as an Arabesque-inspired metallic matelassé used for the outerwear.
