Miss Crabb Wants Femininity Back in Fashion
Fashion

Miss Crabb Wants Femininity Back in Fashion

It's no secret the digital generation has an obsession with the past. Instagram accounts specializing in sepia-toned paparazzi shots from Cannes in 1960s, or photos of a young Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder, amass huge follow counts. Eyewear designers recycle variations of Kurt Cobain's famous clout goggles, while hair stylists tout Bridgette Bardot-bangs. Donald Trump ran on the premise of making new America old again and superstar Lana Del Rey owes almost all of her appeal to our nostalgia-fetish.

At the root of infatuation is, of course, romance. In a time when dating involves thumb cramps, love letters mostly consist of two words ("U Up?") and carabeenas are the ultimate accessory, there's a reasonable desire to get back to basics. Enter Miss Crabb, the eponymous label of New Zealand designer Kristine Crabb. The label has built a world-classname for bringing back basics that are so romantic they will take you to another time: multi-way wrap dresses and silk pajama-inspired sets reign, alongside robes fit for a 1950s MGM starlet, with each piece so distinctly feminine it's almost foreign.

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Crabb's latest collection, aptly named "Romantica," features a mid-century-informed color palette, as well as velvet jacquards and damasks. Its accompanying campaign sees a series of wide lens-shot stills edited to form a variation on stop-motion video, referencing spaghetti Westerns from the 70s, creative directed by and starring filmmakers Florian Habicht and Teresa Peters.

"I wanted the film to be a meandering visual and aural feast," says designer Kristine Crabb of the visual, "much like the original western films but brought into the modern times. It is the start of the new yet retrospective feeling of romance and adornment back in my work, I feel like I am referencing work that I did at the start of my career 15 years ago. The collection still features signature full-volume Miss Crabb silhouettes, yet channeling a new refinement and softening."

Check out the new campaign, below, and see more of Miss Crabb here.

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Story by Andrew Nguyen / Photography by Lera Polivanova / Styling by Domenico Scialò