Very few collections are successful in uniting nostalgia and futurism. Libertine, presenting its Spring/Summer ’21 runway digitally, surpasses every expectation of both, beautifully mirroring time collapsing upon itself.
Libertine’s FW runway was the place to watch for cool-kid inspiration for the upcoming season.
Libertine’s Autumn/Winter 2016 collection once again flexes its collage-esque aesthetic with fluorescent text and Swarovski graphic appliqués. The collection effectively decreases our lifespans flaunting crushed cigarettes and inspires our glamorous alter egos with shimmering hands and electrified blood red nails. Designer Johnston Hartig seems to have a talent for finding peace and cohesion in seemingly random objects. His persistence in using every color of the rainbow in his collections materialized in the literal sense this season, as rainbows joined the cigarettes, hands, and eye motifs on the runway. Hartig cites the current state of the world as an inspiration for this collection, and the eyes seem to peer out at the “current” presence of the audience looking on at the clothes before them. Nothing summarized this element more clearly than the final parade, where models galavanted through the choreography yielding signs adorned with the words “Save the Planet”, “Bernie 4 Eva”, “Lib for Today”, “Buy More Libertine”, and “Feel the Bern”, which spoke to the obvious pending presidential election and perhaps a tongue-in-cheek poke at modern consumer culture.
Taking on this styling endeavor was once again Thomas Osborn; who, season after season, brings Hartig’s eclectic look together with impeccably done hair. For the guys, Osborn decided to leave them as is, letting their personalities show though with their own personal hair styles. With the ladies, multiple braids off to the side were used to provide texture for an “untroubled chic” look, embodying the Libertine girl- “casual and cool”. One of the most interesting details Osborn adds, is the burettes in the back. “Johnston went on Amazon for $600 worth of burettes and he didn’t even know if he wanted to use them or not, but more is more here if you will”!
Robert Greene for Too Cool For School curated the makeup look. He channeled the “3 AM Girl” for the makeup look with a bold, graphic eye. The Libertine woman takes a risk with a dramatic cat eye and smoky highlighted lid. With a 60’s inspiration for the bottom lashes and a focus on the eyes, the face and lips remained natural. Too Cool For School also previewed the brand’s new color cosmetics sub-line launching in Sephora in April 2016 – Glam Rock!
Inspired by the iconic styles of 70’s rock in the UK, Glam Rock is the ultimate visual revolution. Several of the Glam Rock products were used to create the bold, dramatic eye makeup at Libertine including Extreme Color Eyes and Volume Thriller Mascara.
Designer Johnson Hartig and the Libertine overcame quite the dilemma this season, when UPS lost around twenty looks to be shown on the Spring Summer runway.