As Katya Leonovich’s menswear line reaches it’s (not so) terrible twos for its second season collection, it’s clear she is hitting her stride. She is no stranger to the runway, having shown womenswear collections in Paris, and won Designer of the Year in Russia, and her launch into menswear last season leaped off the starting blocks. With this second season, it looks like she plans to continue riding that momentum into the fall, and beyond.
The Fall/Winter 2020 Fix and Fax line, much like her paintings, is built on a framework of overly-tactile textures, rich colors, and finished with more than a touch of other-worldliness. Loose-weave tops paired against metallic and velour fabrics give the line a sense of a wonderland wherein one might jump in excitement and never come back down to earth. Leonovich’s mastery as an artist and confidence in her own aesthetic shows through her return to the angular, directional structuring seen in her early work, as well as the strong, purposeful use of color.
Also included intermittently was a patch image of a rat, a subtle shoutout amongst the flamboyant colors and textures to Leonovich’s pet rats and the collection’s namesakes. Menswear is all about the details!
-John Stolen