Bobby Abley
Bobby Abley offered another variation on his favorite theme Sunday night at Milk Studios. After a spring collection that riffed on cartoon characters from The Little Mermaid in London last July, Abley made his New York debut with a Fall/Winter 2015 lineup that mined another Disney feature, The Jungle Book, for comparable nostalgic value.
“I actually didn’t intend to use it this season,” he swears. “But then when I was in New York in the summer, I started thinking about the whole concrete jungle thing.” What started with a meditation on pinstripes (in his mind, the urban worker’s uniform) gave way to a range of bright multicolored sportswear adorned with bananas, palm leaves, and the giant, smiling faces of characters like Bagheera the black panther and Baloo the bear.
There were a good number of pieces that didn’t read as Disney paraphernalia, though. Abley’s knit shorts (this was his first time doing knits at all) were sweet and simple, as were the striped button-down shirts he showed with them. His coats and jackets, if you could imagine them over something other than the crushed-velvet crop tops and name-branded sweatshirts with which they were worn, looked more mature as well. As in any good Disney movie, there was plenty of material for grown-ups.
For more from NYFW Fall/Winter 2015, click here.
