Public School Designers’ Debut Collection For DKNY

Wolves of Wall Street or streetwise kids of Williamsburg? The designer behind the feted New York City label, Public School, proposed this sartorial question for their debut collection at DKNY.

Stepping into the shoes of one of the nation's most respected female designers would be a daunting task, but Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne have had the fashion world falling at their feet for some time; critics have raved about their complex take on streetwear staples, the modern unisex product offering and the way they rarely steer from a grayscale colour range.

Their existing clientele is the hippest of the hip. The kind who manage to artfully layer a pair of baggy pants with a dress, tabard, shirt, backpack and hoodie all rolled into one outfit without looking like they've trolly dashed their own closets. This lot are the creative movers, shakers and money makers - or they at least definitely dream of such things. So where does this leave Public School for the incrementally more polished DKNY girl? She's still as down with athletic separates as the next but she likes her edge with a more defined silhouette and grown up fabrics - and that's the tightrope these two casually walked today.

Deconstructed and reconstructed business gear - think navy pinstripes, shoulder padded tailoring and white shirts - opened the show within the underground space of One World Trade Center.

1990s tinged slip dresses over t-shirt and ultra-minimal suiting from the decade followed. Layering was still key, with backless light knit dresses slouching over simpler bases for that this-old-thing kind if bragging rights.

It was sombre for spring, but a jolt of cobalt blue close to the final - in a mesh see through dress - hinted to the subversive way that DKNY's new crew could potentially start to use colour.

The message here was loud and clear, but each item was also open to the kind of individual interpretation you'd hope for - the kind of clothes Public School create are for YOU to get creative with, minus the effort and minus the risk of anything ever not going together - which in a busy city like this, where time to get dressed is at a premium and these two are natives, so they'd know - is very welcome indeed.