COS

REFINEMENT AND REINVENTION AT COS THIS AUTUMN

The search for perfection is at the heart of COS this autumn/winter 2012, whether it be the perfect precision of minimal design, or the perfect colours of nature. The collection is a refinement and reinvention of the COS style, with clean and futuristic shapes, layered looks, and optimistic colours. It’s the pleasure found in specific details, and an obsession with experimentation, results in a wardrobe of covetable pieces with their own distinct personality.

Every piece has been refined or reinvented, like a woman’s coat with collarless layered lapels and a completely clean front, resulting in an almost flat effect. A tunic top is cut with a high new V which sits slightly away from the neck, creating a futuristic feel, especially when worn over a second skin roll-neck and with perfectly straight press-fold trousers the shade of blueberry milk.

The cut of a garment makes its own trends, with seams moved to the back of dresses to create a clean new feeling. The result is at one point space-age, like a simple thick wool shift the colour of acid mustard, and at other times innocent, such as a mint-green high V-neck dress of great purity.

Structure creates masculine shapes, like an updated shawl-collar woman’s blazer in winter white. Lightness makes its own structure too, as with a seamless two-layered top of organza and chiffon, which appears to float away from the body. Texture also plays a structural role, like the hairy knits found on sweaters and coats.

For men, COS brings tailoring into the 21st century, cut with clean detailing and innovative new fabrics. A concealed button peak-lapel blazer comes in a high twist wool for a formal feel, while a patch-pocket jacket in bonded wool turns a blazer into a piece of outerwear.

There’s innovation all around, whether it’s a V-neck sweater with a flannel front but different ribs on the back and sleeves, or modernist side adjusters on pleated trousers in matt high-twist wool that do away with belt loops for a clean effect.

Accessories are objects of pure design, like a leather box clutch which folds into a metal base, or a leather belt with metal side details. A woman’s slip-on flat shoe is made from one piece of leather, while for men a lace-up is placed on a flat rubber sole with a contrast welt. It’s all a result of the continuing mission to explore new styles and techniques each season, which come to form part of the ever-evolving COS aesthetic.