osklen

Beginning as a ski wear brand in Brazil, later branching into beachwear and now a high fashion label, Osklen offers an aesthetic that is truly a blend of the aforementioned looks. For the F/W 2010 collection, ski wear references abound; in anticipation of an avalanche it seems, Oskar Metsavaht constructed armor after armor in materials that felt like they can withstand more than mere snowballs, but even more stunning is the architectural, avant-garde silhouettes created. From ultra-power shoulders to built-in backpacks, it is evident that for this collection, Oskar has chosen to depart from the constraints of the human form, instead creating a collection of bold pieces with angles, structures and shapes we could have hardly ever imagined.

The armors come in black, cream, white, but some were made for the jungle — reminiscent of the label’s Brazilian and beachwear origins, Osklen also offers its space-age silhouette in tropical prints replete with palm leaves and pink petals. After experimenting with structure, Osklen naturally progressed into knitwear: body-hugging, striped, bright-colored, these pieces are undoubtedly more wearable, but at the same time, the texture infuses them with a rough edge, also found throughout the collection. Indeed, even Osklen’s more “practical” pieces carry the designer’s progressive aesthetic — building on what looks like fragments of fabrics into a coherent, extraordinary piece with outstanding precision and skill. The Osklen girl may be more fickle when it comes to her preferred weather or her taste for shapes or colors, but her dedication to the original never fails.

– Justina Lee

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