/ Magazine

The Permanence Of Proenza Schouler

by Roxanne Robinson
Last Updated: Mar 30, 2021

The duo creates clothes that last forever.

by Roxanne Robinson
Last Updated: Mar 30, 2021

Photography by Raul Tovar

Styled by Kate Davidson Hudson

Designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez want to spend eternity with you. At least they want the sophisticated, intelligently luxurious clothes they design as Proenza Schouler to remain in your wardrobe for seasons to come. Editorialist recently caught up with the designers to find out what “sustainable” means to them and how the global pandemic has changed their designs and influenced their creative process, especially for their hard-to-resist pre-Spring ’21 collection. But, as the duo says, don’t let labels fool you. These are clothes to love and wear right now.

Speaking via Zoom from their shared Berkshires house and creative bubble, their home base since the coronavirus-induced New York pause, Hernandez and McCollough say a slower pace of life and work has its benefits. “We have been the most creative we have been in a long time these last six months — you have time to think,” says McCollough, touting the upshots of not having distractions, namely brand-related social and extracurricular obligations.

Proenza Schouler’s pre-Spring 2021 collection headed into its final stages last March, with Spring 2021 conceived fully under the new normal. The brand DNA skews toward slouchy ease and comfortable knits with a polished finish. Hence pre-Spring ’21 also serves the new WFH culture: comfortable but put-together and professional.

Our approach will be building pieces for a wardrobe to come back season after season, without expiration dates.

“It’s codes of beautiful dressing: a camel cashmere jacket, beautiful knit dresses and sweaters, and a poplin shirtdress,” explains Hernandez, referring to a softly structured gray double-faced cashmere coat, an ochre knit dress with a smocking effect, and a woven wrap dress. He singles out a long-sleeved bouclé cashmere dress in ecru as “a great dress for this moment,” but also forever.

McCollough breaks it down further. “Easy but with polish, and still our woman,” he describes. “Obviously there are ideas we want to push and stay true to from last season.” But he points to other comfy and cozy but sophisticated pieces like an oversized puffy down coat and a new Tobo padded leather bag that doubles as a pillow in a pinch. Exclusive to ProenzaSchouler.com will be unique colorways of these pieces, along with a blanket made from that same double-faced cashmere.

Since launching their brand in 2002 as newly graduated Parsons students — Hernandez and McCollough collaborated on a senior thesis collection that was promptly purchased by the now-defunct Barneys New York — the designers have grown up personally and professionally. They also see their client regardless of age but more mature in her wardrobe desires. To that end, Proenza Schouler is launching its very first Core collection in addition to its pre-Spring 2021 collection.

Think evergreen pieces, Hernandez suggests. “Expensive designer clothes that are well-made should not be so seasonal. They are like new classics: buy now and wear forever,” he says, noting the importance of value in the buy. McCollough explains their new impetus, which they plan to adhere to post-pandemic. “Our approach will be building pieces for a wardrobe to come back season after season, without expiration dates,” he says. The pair is adamant that “sustainable” means clothes you don’t discard.

The Core collection offers wardrobe building blocks such as a classic merino wool sweater, tropical-weight wool pants, and well-made T-shirts, all coming from deadstock that’s upcycled and spun into new yarns. The collection will never go on sale, the logic being that a black cashmere turtleneck is not out of season from one to the next, nor does its value deplete.

Slow fashion is one way to achieve a more sustainable approach. But like many brands, Proenza Schouler is also looking at “back-of-the-house” procedures to make the company less wasteful. “It’s a big conversation internally, and we can always do it better,” says McCollough, explaining that plastic poly bags will be phased out, as plastic hangers have been replaced with cardboard versions.

The time spent in their Berkshires hub gave them a pause to consider the design process at large. For Spring 2021, Hernandez says he and McCullough eschewed the creative process they’d honed after 18 years in business. With a general idea in mind, the designers sat down “with a blank piece of paper in front of us” and did away with their old approach of mining archives, pulling vintage, researching, and creating looks. “We were free and loose and drew from our imagination and stream of consciousness,” says Hernandez.

It was less to woo the editors so they will shoot a fantastic picture but more to woo the customers.

Proenza Schouler Large Puffy Tobo Tote for $1,995.00

It was an exercise of responding to real life rather than the fantasy of a fashion show.

Not having a physical fashion show also influenced their creative journey, freeing them from dialing up a collection for the sake of impactful runway images. “It was less to woo the editors so they will shoot a fantastic picture but more to woo the customers,” explains McCollough. Hernandez says they pivoted toward what feels right now and what women want to wear: “It was an exercise of responding to real life rather than the fantasy of a fashion show.”

Expect Spring ’21 to be less events-based — their vision for the Proenza Schouler woman is one dressed to transition from her high-octane-career day into stylish social evenings — and rife with comfort while still pulled together. “I do like to think that when this whole thing is over, people [will] want to get dressed up again and go out, put on some lipstick and feel cute again,” muses McCollough. Until then, both their primary collection and White Label collection — the more casual and attainably priced side of the brand — will supply perfect WFH separates. Luckily their e-comm site will be stocking more of those serendipitously timed Birkenstock-collaboration shoes that sold like hotcakes after they debuted just before the Covid-19 confinement periods started.

I do like to think that when this whole thing is over, people [will] want to get dressed up again and go out, put on some lipstick and feel cute again.

Another upshot of the slower pace was the upending of the fashion show cycle, which allowed the designers to present at their leisure. This month Proenza Schouler will debut their Spring 2021 collection to the press in what they call an “anti-digital” manner via an undisclosed printed project. “It’s a more personal presentation, something to hold on to longer than an Instagram post and keep on your bookshelf,” says Hernandez, adding, “It’s something tactile that lives in the real world, which is where the clothes live.”

“The idea also came up after months of staring at a Zoom screen, so we said ‘Let’s try and come up with the idea that takes people away from the screen and back to real life,’” says McCollough.

Which isn’t to say we’ll never see the designers in person or on Zoom. They still do in-person trunk shows, sanitary guidelines allowing, and recently hosted one in the Hamptons. They also work with stylists who host digital trunks shows and hope to add more going forward. The customer learns the thinking behind the collection, and McCollough and Hernandez get to know more about their customer. “We have an imaginary woman in our mind that we are designing for, and I think when you meet the actual customer it changes your view,” says McCollough.

“People are still shopping — they have a lot of time on their hands,” says Hernandez. “It’s the national pastime.”

As designers, they feel their job is to predict the future to a degree and continuously have their finger on the pulse. They sense their customers are beginning to socialize and entertain again, only in a more intimate way. And they go online to shop. “People are still shopping — they have a lot of time on their hands,” says Hernandez. “It’s the national pastime.”