At Jonathan Cohen, Concert Fashion Meets Ladies Who Lunch
As guests walked into The Maxwell for Jonathan Cohen's Fall 2024 presentation, they were likely expecting a slew of the designer's signature vibrant, floral-inspired gowns.
And while there were indeed hints of floral and many beautiful gowns, Creative Director Jonathan Cohen delivered one of his most unexpected — but still highly on-brand — collections yet. His starting point began with watching an old performance of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which reminded him of his early love for concerts.
"Part of what I love about concerts is the lighting design and how it hits the clothing," he told Fashionista. "And at the beginning of a concert, everyone's waiting in anticipation and the lights kind of go down and it's pitch black, and then the lights come up and it's like colors or the gel lights. So that was going through my head [as] a great starting point to explore that part of myself."
He started with "a lot of black" (aptly titled "Pitch Black, like when the lights go down"), later welcoming more colors and prints, inspired by photos of concert lights he took that he mixed together to make the prints. This was particularly exciting for Cohen, as though he's "mostly known in the print world for florals," his latest presentation offered an opportunity to explore doing more abstract prints.
While influenced by Cohen's love for concerts, this collection is anything but what you'd wear in the Pit. It exudes sophistication; be it the matching "static chenille tweed" peplum blazer and flared skirt suit that was hand-woven in Japan or the yellow sweetheart-neckline gown that was embroidered with laser-cut leftovers and embellished with shredded organza to give off the appearance of feathers.
"I definitely think this collection is very sharp," Cohen said. "There's a confidence to it. I think it's executed in a way that's very direct."
One standout from the collection is a black, floor-length gown, for which the designer used a unique knotting technique he says he used to do years ago, but since put in temporary retirement. This directly links to another point of inspiration of Cohen's: the work of Lucio Fontana.
Cohen brought his Fall 2024 inspiration to life through a range of shoes via his second collaboration with Larroudé. The nine-piece collection includes vibrant colors, knee-high boots featuring the knotted-tie technique and heels with in-sole prints. (It's all available to pre-order now.)
"I'm just very grateful to be able to do what I do, especially in these times," Cohen shared. "And I think being in fashion week, we should all just realize how lucky we are to be doing this. So I hope to just give people a little bit of joy and have conversations about it and just kind of help them escape a little bit. That's really important right now, more than ever."
Keep scrolling to see every look from Jonathan Cohen's Fall 2024 collection.
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
Jonathan Cohen Fall 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen
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