J.Crew’s Spring Collection Is As Delightful As It Is Derivative

by Verena von Pfetten | 6:47 pm, September 13th, 2011

Who doesn’t love J.Crew? Or perhaps the better question is: who doesn’t love Jenna Lyons? She has the remarkable ability to design things that are at once fashionably on target and broadly accessible — and her Spring 2012 collection for the brand is no exception. It’s bright and punchy and quirky in all the right ways. In fact, it’s so on trend that we can’t help but theorize just where some of Lyons’ inspiration came from.

We saw bits of last season’s Prada in the multi-colored stripes, an homage to Phoebe Philo‘s spring collection for Celine in a cream, geometric printed blouse, and a heavy dose of the vintage ethos du jour in all the structured bags, driving loafers, and tea length dresses.

But as a brand, J.Crew doesn’t need to set trends — though there’s certainly an argument to be made that it’s more than capable of doing so; that whole sequin skirts paired with chambray shirts thing didn’t come out of nowhere. Instead, the driving force behind J.Crew seems to be to bring high fashion to the masses. And there they’ve certainly succeeded. So a little derivative inspiration isn’t a bad thing — but for a brand that’s now showing at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, they should be careful not to be too heavy handed. Everyone loves Zara, but no one would call them original.

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