Brood New York Fashion Week S/S 2013

“Brood” is the last word that comes to mind when looking through the vigorous florals of Serkan Sarier’s Spring 2013 ready-to-wear collection. But then again, Sarier’s trademark is the juxtaposition of couture and sportswear—his designs rejoice in schism.

An example of this schism: a long, one-sleeved dress that is one half graphic black-and-white roses and one half graphic pale-colored roses, with a gulf of parallelograms splayed across the middle. The geometric motif that appears multiple times in this collection provides a sharp contrast to the wild, ubiquitous flowers that already contrast from one another in terms of graphics. Sarier adds utility pockets, zippers, and peplums to Victorian tablecloth patterns, Victorian lace, and Victorian corseted figures. The defined waists and balanced distribution of colors provide a structure for the cross-pollination of styles.

Serkan Sarier was born in Germany, and graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, the alma mater of Van Gogh. The Spring 2013 collection marks his fifth show at New York Fashion Week. In the past two months alone, outfits from his Fall 2012 collection have been sported—to much critical acclaim—by Rihanna and Emma Watson. Sarier lives in a stunning loft overlooking New York’s Tribeca neighborhood, which he shares with Vera Wang president Mario Grauso and their two dogs, Georgia and Lilly.

Sarier draws inspiration from high art—his Spring 2013 collection was influenced by the sculptures of Antony Gromley—as well as images of quotidian life, like a windbreaker draped on the back of a chair. The Brood website provides a brief manifesto of the modern, urban woman: “She wants evening pieces that are as creative and energetic as her life. She wants her clothing at night to feel as easy as her jeans and tees in the day.” When has comfort ever been a concern of high fashion? Sarier’s sympathy for a woman’s body—evident in the versatile, utilitarian features he helped pioneer in contemporary fashion—speaks to the modern, urban girl’s spunk, the idea that she dresses for her own soul and not the expectations of others.