To spend an hour with Kithe Brewster is akin to spending an hour at fashion fantasy camp.
A few days after debuting his Fall 2015 RTW line, I met with the designer to talk about his creative process and walk through the collection. Brewster had set up shop at Industry DTLA, a stunning space in downtown Los Angeles that houses a salon, retail boutique and concept studio. In between meetings and fittings with clients, we talked about his 15-year career as a celebrity stylist, his early love of fashion and his incredible ability to “make it work”.
The Fall 2015 collection is Brewster’s sixth season designing and features an impressive array of transformative pieces. Almost every garment can be worn multiple ways – a boyfriend blazer belted and worn in reverse transforms into a minidress, a silk-gazar blouse inverts to form a shawl, a billowing dress made of three “kites” sewn together re-wraps to feature a floor length cape. This level of design is not only ingenious – every stitch, seam and cut is deliberate – but also advantageous for the wearer who can achieve three looks in one piece.
As with most F/W collections, Brewster kept his color palette mostly dark, featuring black and shimmering gold, reminiscent of the New York City skyline where he designs and manufactures. To infuse a dramatic flair, he added pops of vibrant blue and canary yellow using luxurious lambskin and delicate lace. One of my favorites is his yellow lambskin dress shown with a reptilian embossed blue belt. To touch, the leather is so supple it practically melts through your fingers.
The Kithe Brewster Fall 2015 collection is as interesting and multifaceted as the man behind it.
Growing up, Brewster was drawn to vintage pieces rather than contemporary ones. He recollects never wanting to wear the polo shirts his mother bought him and preferring to search for treasures thrifting instead of shopping. This discerning eye would go on to serve him well as a stylist. With an encyclopedic mind for eras, the famed make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin asked him to style 60% of the looks in his book, Face Forward. In it, Brewster transformed Julianne Moore, Celine Dion and Gwyneth Paltrow into icons of decades past. The book would go on to become a best seller and is still considered to be a fashion and beauty bible today.
One of his first celebrity clients was Julianne Moore, during her indie queen days. It was a time before stylists were the phenomenon they are today and the two made a fantastic pair. Prior to the 2000 Oscars in which Moore was nominated for Best Actress, the two travelled to Paris to meet with Karl Lagerfeld, Valentino and Tom Ford. Moore would eventually decide on Chanel, but Brewster recalls the frenzy of meetings and secret fittings that sometimes included disguising the designers to maintain anonymity before the big reveal.
One thing that becomes abundantly clear after spending an afternoon with Brewster is that his relationship to clothing is visceral. Like the great designers of our time, he has an innate understanding of the way a woman’s body moves. Known for his expert draping, I believe the ingenuity and tailoring of his multifunctional pieces will become his signature. They celebrate what it means to be a woman, allowing for a personalized interpretation, ensuring she always stands out from the crowd as an individual.
So what’s next for Kithe Brewster? His line will soon be carried in Atlantis Resorts’ Escape boutiques around the world, and he’s gearing up to show a resort presentation in June and a runway show of his A/W15 couture collection in July. Below are some of my favorite looks from his Fall 2015 RTW collection. For the entire collection, click here.
Photos by Katie Jones
