Juun J. brought the forties back to life for his filmic spring collection. It’s always a challenge to reinvent a certain period without appearing trite or repetitive, but the Korean designer successfully transposed the turbulent era into the modern world.

Bathed in a neutral palette of navy, beige, black, white and elephant gray, the collection was crisp, simple and beautifully worked. Shoulders were exaggerated, creating an inverted-triangle silhouette, like images of WWII sailors and servicemen. Intricate panels and darts were tidily pressed into jackets, and patch pockets featured prominently, ensuring the eye focused on the overall form rather than stitching.

The clean palette, like an unpainted canvas, was broken only by splashes of neon orange—on shoes or as stripes on a daring jacket—or by studs pressed under fabric. The embroidered caps worn by each model also added complexity and brought the collection from the silver screen onto the street.  

Toward the end of the show, the audience broke into spontaneous applause for the army of young men that emerged en masse in navy pinstripe suits. Unlike the everyday commuter suit, these were nipped in dramatically at the waist. The shape of things to come, perhaps?