Maria Cornejo is working on a large-scale archival project in her Brooklyn Navy Yard studio, scouring racks upon racks of clothing dating back to her design beginnings at London label Richmond Cornejo in the late 1980s. Cornejo’s production has a cyclical character; she often looks back to silhouettes from the past, but a loose-fitting dress with raised pleated details on the shoulders in her new pre-fall collection felt like a particularly deep cut. “Everyone loves the 80s,” she said during a showroom appointment, including Cornejo himself.
Other fresh styles include long-leg trousers with a high waist and a diagonal zipper at the front and a bubble skirt with a smocked waist and an elastic hem that also references the 80s a bit. But don’t confuse this with retro. Cornejo is focused on the here and now and is therefore one of the standard bearers of New York fashion in the field of sustainable design. A summery, airy polyester has become a favorite fabric for her; this season she was able to find a partially recycled version for the first time. Every little bit counts.
The big story for her this season is color. Much of it remained on the racks and wasn’t photographed for the lookbook, but trust that the sunflower yellow of an easy-to-wear V-neck dress in ruffled mesh is as vibrant as the Yves Klein blue of the off-the-shoulder dress from the 80s that looks similar. An. Also notable are a new navy blue and gold jacquard and a graphic print on silk from circa 2014 that Cornejo reissued using a digital inkjet process that produces less waste than traditional screen printing. Say it again with me: every little bit counts.