Formerly one half of NY design duo Ammerman Schlösberg, Eric Schlösberg has unveiled his first solo collection since the label disbanded. Photographed by Amy Lombard for the lookbook above, the colour-drenched collection is based on the idea of a high-class society lady whose appearance slowly unravels. According to Schlösberg, his imagined protagonist “loses everything, and winds up living with the punks on Saint Mark’s Place” – a subculture reference translated visually through the heavy use of tartan.

Explaining his decision to explore a solo collection, the designer credits Ammerman Schlösberg as an “amazing moment in time... but (that) it felt like time to explore new things”. Schlösberg also admits that the design process was a learning experience, but claims that making decisions alone was “a little bit scary... but fun and invigorating at the same time”. Although the results stay true to the fantasy-fuelled aesthetic of his previous label, the new visuals mark a new chapter for Schlösberg, who cites a desire to tell a story with each collection.

For AW16, the narrative is explained sartorially through a steady deconstruction of the lookbook’s main character. The yellow latex is slowly phased out and replaced by a series of looks in paintbox red, leaving an uncanny, Ronald-McDonald style colour palette that’s enhanced with the clownish wigs and make-up. Eventually, the punk references begin to creep in, resulting in a tartan minidress fringed with pink feathers and a sheer evening gown adorned with scraps of the same tartan fabric.

In Schlösberg’s own words, the collection is “batty and a little nuts... It’s luxurious and broken at the same time, glamorous and slightly off in a twisted, scary way.” It follows on perfectly from the character-driven collections of Ammerman Schlösberg, and continues to inject a dose of weird and wonderful charisma into New York fashion. 

@ericschlosberg