Spencer Phipps is back in California

By

Chenu Alexis

Published
May 11, 2022

“I'm moving to Los Angeles – returning to my home state,” said American designer Spencer Phipps as he introduced his spring-summer 2023 collection, recognizing “having run for years and realized how special of a place California is, and the potential it can hold for myself and Phipps as a brand."

Originally from San Francisco and a graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York, Phipps began his career alongside Marc Jacobs, for whom he worked for seven years, before moving to Antwerp where he was the first American designer to work for Dries Van Noten. Phipps unveiled his own brand in 2019, organizing his first fashion show at the Cité Internationale des Arts.
 
Recently seen at the last men's fashion week in Paris at the 35-37 Dover Street Market concept store where he presented his first collaboration with Woolrich, Phipps is back in California, Los Angeles, a return illustrated in his new spring-summer collection entitled Origin 2.0 and presented via a lookbook and through a film returning to his childhood, and to his favorite neighborhoods Venice, Hollywood and Downtown LA.

“Perhaps it’s the allure of Hollywood, but I wanted to bring back a renewed focus on more special occasion dressing, and an emphasis on our growing womenswear business. Not only have we re-examined our tailoring, but we developped dresses with an elegant yet rugged sensibility. We even explored more glamorous pieces in our gold label selection like lace gowns and tuxedo jackets, however still mixed in a way that feels modern and unstudied – an anti-glamour in a sense,” he said.

Camouflage is widely used in his collection, such as upcycling visible through a series of mini-skirts created from sportswear pieces or combining military surplus cargo pants. The collection also includes new pieces made in collaboration with Woolrich from their iconic fabrics deadstock, to make a small capsule of limited edition classic American workwear staples such as a padded rancher coat and a lightly quilted overshirt.
 
This season will again see an appearance from Phipps' favorite mascot, “Smokey the Bear”, a character teaching children what to do in the event of a forest fire. Sensitive to environmental issues and a supporter of sustainable fashion, Phipps will donate part of the sales revenue to the USDA forest service, which protects American national parks.