Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia described their Monse’s Fall/Winter 2020 collection as ‘’happy punk’’. But the inspiration behind it all was, in fact, very happy: ‘’Fantastic Mr. Fox’’, the 2009 Wes Anderson film Garcia and Kim stumbled upon earlier this year.
‘’We realized he kind of looks like a Monse fox’’, Kim said, referring to main character Mr. Fox’s thrifty patchwork suits. It got them thinking about menswear tweeds, plaids, and wools, all familiar territory for Monse, as well as rougher-looking recycled furs and downy mohair. As always, everything got the Monse slice-and-dice treatment, with a few new experiments that felt genuinely new.
Displaying all punk’s ports of call – safety pins, tartans, spidery takeoffs of pantyhose, and blood and black color combinations – the collection gave plenty of innovative takes on the familiar tropes but – minus the historical aggression.
Kim and Garcia explored the softer side of punk, envisioning it as more approachable. They achieved this and their exploration brought to mind a barometer of punk the Brit Alexander McQueen.
‘’We laughed about it’’, Garcia explained. ‘’We said, ‘Oh punk. It feels funny to look at a sinister subject like punk and still make the person want to wear it and feel good wearing it’’’.
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