Staud Spring 2020: More-than-Clickbait Clothing

PHOTO: FASHION DUST VIA FACEBOOK

STAUD knows how to stimulate the sartorial senses. At the spring 2020 runway show, models slouched around New York City’s Federal Hall in zesty lime green, juicy orange and bubblegum pink, transforming the marble space into a fruit bowl brimming with delectable designs.

 Since launching STAUD in 2015, the brand’s namesake Sarah Staudinger and her partner George Augusto have mastered the art of social-media style. Seasonal staples include itty-bitty crop tops and high-waisted hippie trousers practically made-to-order for it-girls like Alexa Chung (one of the brand’s longest supporters). STAUD then drapes these pieces against highly stylized sets, creating an Instagram presence that reads more like a millennial fashion magazine than an e-commerce tool.  

Yet, STAUD has proved itself to have an equal eye for fashion. It continues to deliver timeless, well-constructed and oh-so-dreamy designs that are refreshingly affordable, a consistency which has turned STAUD into a 20-million-dollar company in just five years.

STAUD described its spring 2020 collection as a “metamorphosis,” and it’s true that the show marks a turning point for the L.A.-based company. While the show began safe with structured satin suit jackets that will surely flood our feeds, the collection’s progression highlighted STAUD’s design evolution.

Harling Ross, the Fashion Editor at Man Repeller, agrees that the spring 2020 show solidified STAUD’s ability to operate both within and around social media fashion. 

“This collection was a true distillation of Staud's fluency with the importance of appealing to social media while still putting a premium on making clothes that people can and certainly will wear,” says Ross.

Paisley patterns blended with landscape prints in fanciful chiffon garments, ranging from loose high-waisted shorts to billowing bubble skirts. The effect was, as Staud described, added whimsy to “an otherwise independent, brane STAUD woman.” Simple shapes lent themselves to resort-ready maxi dresses, while orange, royal blue and magenta hues provided depth and excitement.

Timeless, multi-dimensional pieces for the everyday women were, of course, still present. STAUD introduced head-to-toe leather ready-to-wear ensembles — a novelty for the brand. A delicious, chocolate, two-piece played peek-a-boo with the model’s abs while a draped knee-length trench coat provided ample rainy-day inspiration (despite April being seven months away).

The most successful looks fell under the experimental ready-to-shop umbrella. Hot pink pleated shorts were paired with a structured tangerine top, a sweet concoction topped with one sugary earring. Orange palazzo pants provided the perfect stand for a cotton-candy bralette connected to cascading blue strands. The former look is rigidly structured (a pleated top sits on pleated shorts) and the latter is aggressively loose (oversized everything), but together the two showcase a wearable whimsy often absent from fashion week.

 The show featured a couple try-hard pieces, caterpillars that struggled to fully emerge from their cocoons. The blue knitted ensembles were overpowered by athe sea of effervescent chiffon and structured leather garments. The styling didn’t help either —– the green fringe sandals, when paired with the modge-podge of blues, created an ensemble that was more Monster’s Inc. than Malibu resort. Then there’s the patchwork parachute dress. Given its lack of shape, misaligned seams and creamsicle coloring, its inclusion in a STAUD collection is confusing; though, given a chic monochrome belt and tall strappy sandals, the look could be salvaged.

Despite these flaws, STAUD’s spring 2020 collection thrives in its wearability, a term that Ross uses to refer to an outfit’s delight and functionality. “A wearable garment is something that doesn't take too much effort to put on, that doesn't pull or pinch in any cumbersome way throughout the day, and that makes you feel like your best self,” says Ross. In other words, STAUD is wearable not just practically but in its celebration of femininity’s playful and serious sides. 

Often, the fashion down a runway can seem little is more than merely a bourgeois dream. Most shoppers can appreciate the grandeur and theatrics of Chanel and Louis Vuitton shows from afar, but can’t even come close enough to taste or touch the garments. STAUD rewrites this narrative by providing chic, always-en-vogue clothes that soar above fast fashion but still provide options working women can afford. The spring 2020 collection expanded this vision with thoughtful prints, structured leather coats and simple silhouettes. STAUD’s latest collection proves that whether she’s designing for Instagram or for the runway, Sarah Staudinger is foremost designing for all women.