Ib Kamara's Debut Off-White™ FW23 Collection Was Intergalactic
In his first delivery, the 33-year-old designer lifts House classics with references to founder Virgil Abloh’s signature codes.
Named the creative director of Off-White™ in April of last year, designer Ib Kamara made his much-anticipated debut at the luxury streetwear imprint’s helm during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday. For Fall/Winter 2023, the visionary presented a collection, titled “Lunar Delivery,” that was tech-forward and Afrofutrisitic, offering a martian-like wardrobe with kaleidoscopic range that successfully adhered to Virgil Abloh’s founding pillars.
Kamara updated signature Off-White™ design codes with refined cuts and an emphasized ornateness. The opening looks, which included both womensear and menswear, covered well-tailored, all-black formalwear with punkish leather belts and harnesses donning silver, metal-punched holes. An army of orange iterations then utilized a similar tactic, applying the metal rings directly to shorts and skirts alike.
Next, utilitarianism screamed, as one double-breasted coat fastened across the waist with a sealt-belt-like mechanism and a blazer donned abnormally massive zippers that ran across the entire construction. Holes continued to appear in dresses, accentuating the female form, and some dug into oversized fur coats, offering a peek at beneath layers.
Knitwear was distressed, with several ombré iterations appearing torn and stretched in yellow, orange and green tones. Graphic prints, a classic Off-White™ inclusion, decorated collared coats of varying lengths, and periodically, statement colors took over — take Look 34’s lemon-yellow, reconstructed puffer jacket, for example.
Varsity elements trickled onto jackets and skirts with embellished detailing, and pearl-like embroidery injected opulence into otherwise ruptured sweaters and cardigans — both perfect examples of the grandeur that Kamara’s Off-White™ desires. Overall, the designer’s debut collection proved that high-end streetwear can be regal — otherworldly, even.
Peruse Off-White™’s Fall/Winter 2023 collection in the gallery above.
Elsewhere at Paris Fashion Week, Acne Studios FW23 was rooted in futuristic mysticism.
