The excitement was palpable at Justin Timberlake’s William Rast show Monday evening as the entire large tent was filled to the rafters only ten minutes into the scheduled start time.  Clearly the PR team was running a tight ship as the show was underway fifteen minutes in—basically way early for a fashion show where the first look doesn’t come down the runway until at least thirty to forty minutes past the call time. 

Celebrities came out en masse to support JT and lining the front row were bold-faced names including Jessica Biel, Emile Hirsch, Gerard Butler, Paris and Nicky Hilton among others.  Unfortunately, the star wattage way outshined the collection.  The style was 80’s Americana with faded denim, superfluous zippers, and grommet detailing.  Rather than a reinterpretation, the clothes just felt recycled: dredged up from a vintage shop somewhere and thrown onto the models. 

There were a few tailored men’s jackets that were eye-catching though still nothing to write home about.  William Rast is ultimately a ready-to-wear line that will tailor to pop culture fanatics, not those at the forefront of fashion so it was unclear why the designers behind the label sought to create something so unmarketable.  If the public is ready for another go at deep faded jeans, hippie fringes and grometed biker jackets, we’ll follow Carine Roitfeld’s lead and stick to all black all the time.

Adrien Field