Proenza Schouler Spring 2022 Ready To Wear Collection

The island vibe rubbed off on their new collection, which mixed scuba and surfing motifs, a color palette plucked from nature, and a few handmade leis from Maui with their more urban fare.

Backstage after their Little Island show—the designers won the location sweepstakes this season—they clarified that Hawaii wasn’t a literal reference.

But they did concede that there’s nothing as restorative as travel, especially when it comes after months of lockdown, and a year of designing garments for life at home. “They’re joyful clothes to step out in the world again.”

Hernandez and McCollough’s first order of business was rethinking the suit. Next spring theirs will come in vivid shades of coral or orange cotton jacquard. Basic black, meanwhile, isn’t so basic when suit bottoms are cut tight like bicycle shorts with several inches of swingy fringe below the hems.

There was fringe to spare here, not just on the layering pieces that were those shorts, but also on the skirts of long clingy knit dresses. A pair of block-printed floral dresses with looped hems had verve; the designers pointed out that the prints were the same on the front and back of the fabric rather than being reversed, a complicated technique to pull off.

The point of the collection was not to look complicated. The gowns, in gorgeous acid colors, were made from fine gauze jerseys. “They stretch and move, we all want to be comfortable.”

Other things that conveyed joy: the low-to-the-ground loafers and sport-influenced sandals the models wore, which are reflective of the way most women are getting around post-pandemic.

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