Some brands just don’t change that much from season to season. While some designers roll out a new collection with an accompanying, flowery story of inspiration from a trip to St. Tropez or the like, others simply build and adapt their codes. 6397 falls into the latter category. But as she showed off her Spring 2024 collection, creative director Stella Ishii sought to explain the themes that emerge again and again in her work and serve as eternal inspiration. She always brings out masculine tailoring, unexpected layers, subtle shine and pajama dressing, among other things. But none defines her label as well as the comment she made while perusing the spring 2024 offering: “There’s always something strange about the collection.”
She said it in the context of a pair of silver-coated jeans, the most eye-catching piece in the collection. “This is something we always wanted to put in, but you have to do it right or it looks ridiculous,” Ishii said, adding that 6397 designer Lizzie Owens was actually able to help her make the idea a reality. What’s different about these particular pants is in the blue peeking through them, taking them outside of Tin Man territory.
Often 6397 combines a certain silhouette or pattern with the ‘wrong’ fabric: camo in linen, terry cloth twinsets, a five-pocket knee-length skirt in a silky gray fabric, silver-coated denim. Although both the fabrics and the designs are quite familiar, the combination makes it interesting. These things are not what they seem, but they are still portable and functional. Yet some garments push the boundaries more than others: where else can you find a calf-length skort?
