A Seasonless Era Approaches

With its autumn/winter and spring/summer collection cycles, fashion has always been fast-paced. And in recent years, retailers have been upping the ante by rearranging their store's offerings with increased frequency in order to keep customers engaged. The result has been an even speedier industry, in which only the most agile labels—typically the blue-chip brands—can compete. A growing number of designers, however, are beginning to question this headlong pace and its relevance to the way we live, instead promoting flexible, seasonless collections.

Karlo Steel, proprietor of Atelier New York, the thinking man's multi-label store in Nolita, says, "I think fashion is way, way too fast. It's probably insane for me to say that as a retailer but it's really how I feel." As a proponent of the seasonless movement, Steel is involved in an ongoing collaborative project with Austrian design wunderkind Carol Christian Poell for A-SUIT, a collection of sleek handmade, 50% cotton/50% wool suits (available only at the store) that are designed to be worn during the a/w and s/s seasons. Poell, who is well known in fashion circles for his cerebral concepts and precise sartorial constructions, has also decided to show only one collection per year; his new season-netural line consists of heavy outerwear mixed with more structured, lighter pieces.

Brian Janusiak and Elizabeth Beer of Project No. 8, a discerningly merchandised fashion and design outpost in New York's Chinatown, also believe in seasonless garments. In addition to stocking Kostas Murkudis' 96 dresses, a collection of chic frocks meant for all seasons that's been covered in these pages, the duo also have their own seasonless line under the Various Projects umbrella. "What excites us about the seasonless approach is that after decades of forced obsolescence by design in retail, people are beginning to rewrite the rules on what is an acceptable rhythm in the fashion cycle," says Janusiak.

For Mary Ping, turning the dictates of fashion on their head is nothing new. Since her eponymous label debuted in 2001, the cerebral designer has been blurring the boundaries between fashion and art, and for her well-executed Slow and Steady Wins the Race project, she releases what's called a "clothing diary." Each biannual "issue" focuses on a single fashion item—the current issue tackles jewelry, while the previous one addresses sunglasses—and is only available in select stores. According to Ping, she uses the "system as a means of categorization and organization, and to mark [each issue/collection] as seasonless."

While it would be easy to view these initiatives as strictly anti-establishment efforts, there are compelling signs that a truly seasonless fashion future may be on the horizon. First and foremost, global warming is rendering seasonal temperatures increasingly unpredictable. At the same time, subtler shifts are occurring, such as retailers placing increased importance on resort/cruise collections. As Diane Von Furstenburg did in her s/s '09 resort outing, a number of designers are beginning to include more seasonless pieces in their collections to give their jet-setting customers more flexibility. Soon, a truly global, all-weather lifestyle could be within our reach.

—Robert Cordero