There are some broad and generally accepted parallels in fashion history between decades, such as ’20s/’60s and ’40s/’80s. It’s the latter pairing that is operative—without being retrograde—in Andrea Mary Marshall’s Salon 1884 pre-fall collection.
“I wanted to make sure that [the wearer] looked empowered in the clothing, and that it represented how I feel about being a woman. I’m 40, and I think it’s very important that women are taking care of themselves, that they’re eating healthily, they’re exercising, and that means a bigger body.”
The bodybuilder and Robert Mapplethorpe muse Lisa Lyons, the post-punk British singer Siouxsie Sioux, and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel formed a trinity of Marshall muses this season. Lyons’s androgyny is related to the power suiting. Siouxsie clearly informed the ’80s touches like shoulder flanges, batwing sleeves, asymmetries, and foldover waists. And Chanel inspired the designer’s decision to work with jersey. Marshall used the material to create a fab one-shouldered dress that tied at the neck and above the left ankle, creating a slit that exposed a long stretch of leg, with attitude and ease to spare.
Tailoring is what’s creating buzz at Salon 1884; an impeccable gray pantsuit in Loro Piana fabric lived up to the hype, as did its skirt suit counterpart composed of a narrow skirt with a high slit and a jacket with built-out hips and “bra cups” at the bustline, which was Marshall’s take on the post-war New Look. “I think that playing with that idea of feminine symbolism on a suit jacket is a very strong way of mixing the masculine and feminine,” she said. An amalgam of references including Wonder Woman, Vivienne Westwood, and cone bra-era Madonna, it also emphasized the designer’s self-defined role as a “woman designing for women.” Certainly it would read differently if a man had done the same thing.
A pair of slashed patent pants, shown with a fishnet bodysuit, hit an off note. Sure, they’re Siouxsie-like, but they channel the destructive energy of punk, whereas Marshall applied the lion’s share of her attention this season to building women up.