380 SEPTEMBER 2019 VOGUE.COM
Since the dawn of time (or, at the very least, the late 20th century),
American design has been renowned for its less-is-more practicality.
Still, a new spirit of ebullience has fallen over the country’s
fashion in the past decade—one that trades in wearability for
CREATIVE EXPRESSION
GOING BOLDLY
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR
LEFT: MARC JACOBS,
RODARTE, BRANDON
MAXWELL, AND TOM
FORD ARE NO
STRANGERS TO GIVING
IN TO THEIR WILD—AND
WONDERFUL—
IMAGINATIONS.
THE UNITED STATES OF FASHION
MARC JACOBS
RODARTE
BRANDON
MAXWELL
TOM FORD wanderlust, function for fantasy, and ease for over-the-top
exuberance. This is fashion with a big old capital F, a reminder
that this country, too, has its provocateurs offering bold and
romantic clothing on a par with—or beyond!—anywhere else in
the world. Designers like Marc Jacobs, Rodarte’s Kate and Laura
Mulleavy, and Tom Ford are (literally) pumping up their artistry
with voluminous tiers, thousands of feathers, and bows the size
of the Plaza. Meanwhile, red-carpet stars like Lady Gaga have
played willing muse and coconspirator with the likes of Brandon
Maxwell, the Texan who won the CFDA Womenswear Designer of
the Year Award this past June. We often talk about the American
Dream as a success story rooted in reality—but what if the dream
we’re looking for has been fashion all along?—steff yotk a MARC JACOBS: MIKAEL JANSSON,
VOGUE,
2018. RODARTE: MERT ALAS & MARCUS PIGGOTT,
VOGUE,
2018. BRANDON MAXWELL: DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/
GETTY IMAGES FOR THE MET MUSEUM/
VOGUE
. TOM FORD: MERT ALAS & MARCUS PIGGOTT,
VOGUE,
2016.
