The newly monikered American Collections Calendar Fall/Winter 2021 collections have begun. We begin our fashion week journey with an old favorite, the Negris LeBrum Fall/Winter 2021 Collection; you may remember we covered their “Black is” Tees and their Spring/Summer 2021 Collection. Today, we highlight “The Homecoming Collection”, inspired by design director Travis Hamilton’s trip home to the Louisiana Bayou.
For Fall Winter 2021, the Negris LeBrum Fall/Winter 2021 collection show was orchestrated in Hamilton’s current hometown of Houston, Texas. The seamless show’s location, a public park, gave it an impromptu feel. It highlighted the foundation of the collection, the days before Covid-19 when we were free to roam and safely find our way back home.
The collection was inspired by the story Travis and the Negris LeBrum collection has been telling for the last two decades. He saw this occasion as a wonderful opportunity to present his collection in his own backyard of Houston, Texas. Staged in the ‘Gus S. & Lindall F. Wortham Park’, just off the grounds of the Houston Medical Center, the impromptu runway show took less than 90 minutes. It was a welcomed surprise to several bystanders, who like the rest of us are probably quite Covid-weary, and who marveled at the inadvertent score of “front row” seats to a NYFW runway show in the streets of Houston.
“I wanted to bring a piece of NY Fashion Week to the South this season, as I may not get the opportunity to show outside of NYC again for some time. I really feel these times are right for my brand in so many ways. I have always worked in what I refer to as a ‘conservative sexy’ aesthetic, allowing the woman who wears my collection to define the final feeling of the ensemble,” says Travis Hamilton, Creative Director Negris LeBrum. “The heart & soul of the Negris LeBrum brand is & will always be Louisiana, but my studio & current home are in Houston, so bringing the two together for Fall Winter 2021 is like a fashionable homecoming for me.”
Grounded in Black and White for the last several seasons, the color palette for Fall/Winter 2021 continues to build upon this foundation with other colors like Deep Maroon, Old Gold, and Burnished Silver being seen in the tweeds and supporting separates. Surface details on the textiles can be seen in the knits where several cutting-edge treatments lend dimensional details to the pieces that may not be immediately visible; when these details are discovered and experienced, it gives the Negris LeBrum Fall/Winter 2021 collection a sense of story and depth.
The one thing that stood out to us about this collection was its wearability. The pandemic has been especially hard on the workforce over many industries. As each model graced the park’s concrete runway, we couldn’t help envision the women we pass en route to work. The women we all barely take notice of as we commute to our jobs in crowded cities. We may notice them wearing a blouse, jacket, or shoes that we loved and glazed over the person. With this collection, Travis Hamilton has made us realize how much we miss seeing, and being a part of the crowd of smartly and fashionably dressed women going to and from work. With these wardrobe complementing pieces, we can all effortlessly move right back into work mode with stylish ease.
