This afternoon on Manhattan’s downtown helipad, models sauntered with infectious grins under the shining sun as Campillo presented its spring collection. “I wanted to have references to happiness and joy,” said Patricio Campillo backstage before the show. “It’s those kinds of moments that you want you want to freeze, and make that moment into an object or idea that will romantically survive the creator and this container of it.” One such memory was a hiking trip he took with his mother in Chiapas, Mexico, and the joy, liberty, and beauty he felt in those moments were what he channeled into his runway today.
If you’ve ever been on a hike that’s dipped into dusk, there’s nothing quite like catching a mountainous sunset’s fiery rays. In lieu of shuttling us from Manhattan, Campillo brought the image to us through the collection’s rich red, pink, and marigold tones that, at times, blended in a saturated ombré. Between the clothing in front of our eyes and the sun above our heads, the audience was feeling the heat. But by the end it cooled with a charcoal gray jacket whose purple and yellow feathers caught the last rays of light. One silk shirt took on nature’s wear and tear quite literally: Campillo placed silk outside on oxidizing plates, and the brown rust patina was its natural effect. Pretty neat.
Equestrianism returned again, in both antique horse bridles (worn as harnesses or carried in hand) and dyed horsehair trims, this time with a little less rigidity than before. Brightly colored shoes set with wide horsehair trims fanned the concrete, not quite clownish but certainly not what you’d find in a FiDi office. Then again, the sight of a swinging cobalt blue horsehair belt would likely brighten up the average dullness of the day.
Most importantly, and perhaps most successfully, Campillo ushered in a new sense of freedom. There were short shorts paired with a feathered Dickey, retro Campillo logo graphic T-shirts, and ’70s inspired wrestling tank tops, and all were just so fun. Campillo has clearly established his universe, now he should get even more freaky with it.