For this season, other than the termination of his relationship with his business partners in Italy, there were suggestions of the designer's ongoing fascination with haute couture in silhouettes that lightly caped a coat back, unseamed and rounded a shoulder, or boxed a jacket. The maximal spirit Raf Simons has been talking about since mid-2010 was obvious from the outset, with a camel coat wrapping a high-collared latex top. Likewise, the vivid shades that colored elongated knits, the coats, and oversize tunics. One example in orange closed with toggles down the back, a duffel in reverse. The duffel coat was a cornerstone of the collection. Another was the parka. As these student classics implied, Mr Simons had college on his mind. His young idealists could wear a bonded flannel sweatshirt advertising their allegiance to 'Dead Prince College' or declaring that they were a 'Memory Ware Collector' (making them fans of the artist Mike Kelley's work, like Raf Simons). If this was the designer's way of saying he still had plenty to learn, his 'college' clothes managed a techno precision that made you realize just how far he's come from the hand-collaged rawness and urgency of, say, his Manic Street Preachers collection. In that respect, this show assuredly started the next phase of his career. Besides, his colorful collection for Jil Sander was a blast too.
