Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient enter the new year and the pre-autumn season with a few good intentions. “We have been creative and experimental for a long time, but with this collection we wanted to give that big hug that we all need right now,” Bösch said during a joint video call.
The duo described the first look here — a sage green jersey top and strappy leggings, worn with a “furry” chocolate miniskirt — as “something that taps into what we grew up with, that’s almost dressy, but also casual.” The furry fabric returned as a fitted jacket with wide-leg trousers, or as deep cuffs on green briefs. Astute observers will see echoes of last season’s runway in graffiti-painted cotton or paper totes, while the brand’s signature asymmetrical lace-ups now return in shearling.
More or less putting sharpness aside as an end goal, the designers instead wanted to offer a collection of “softshell layers” that are easy to master, even if many are rooted in traditional Swiss garb that is anything but. Take for example the classic dirndl, which lives on mainly in vintage Oktoberfest photos, and which neither designer thinks they can wear. Unless perhaps it was reincarnated as a mesh crop top, a long printed dress paired with a fitted blazer, or exuberantly printed body-positive pieces.
Inspired by traditional menswear, lederhosen is updated in mesh, or as shiny flared trousers that exhibit less Alpine transhumance than the little red Corvette (elsewhere, red and white chalet checks also enhance the optics). Chunky cable knits developed with a production partner in Athens looked cozy, a pink and navy knit twinset with matching skirt in a classic style figure, and several outerwear pieces – a fighter-style padded jacket, a strappy bomber, hooded coat-like numbers – should tie in the basis of the brand. Choosing clarity over madness will likely prove to be a smart move.
