Steven Tai took us back to school with his SS16 collection. The top floor at the Elm Lester’s Painting Rooms was transformed into a pre-school classroom with checked carpet, a black chalkboard, wooden desks, balloons and even an old retro TV. The Canadian designer really made his classroom of models seem like the best classroom ever.
The colour palette of the collection was super fun clearly reflecting the spring/summer season. Unlike his previous collections Tai really pushed himself to have a super brightly coloured collection full of pastel colours. Ruffles and shirts collars were a main aspect of the collection as they were layered over garments and each other. Tai showed off his design work with the 3D ruffling decorating jackets, shorts and tops. In terms of print or in this case we should say childlike illustration was printed on some of the models’ overalls, t-shirts and jackets, adding to the overall atmosphere and theme of the collection.
Tai used a range of textures like chiffon, organza and cotton to create lovely fabric contrasts. A favourite of ours was a pair of oversized white waistband and blue checked shorts with a t-shirt tucked in stating ‘Worst Day Ever’. Looks were complimented with big round glasses and models wore their hair with one hair pin at each side. It was all very geek chic and we wanted to be part of the class too.
Words by: Daniela Suarez
Photos: Sarah Brown
