The dark, hard-edged mood Rave Review designers Livia Schück and Josephine Bergqvist were in last season has dissipated. Spring found them yearning to connect to nature and native crafts. The duo conjured the rustic Swedish country vibe they were after by working homey ginghams in different weights. They also transformed home textiles, including embroidered and often handwoven dishcloths, into tops and skirts. A nice flex was rendering the red check so common to such materials in embroidery. Puma sneakers were customized with thrift finds, and little friends hanging from waists were “scrap dolls.” The making of these friends from whatever is at hand is a Swedish kindergarten tradition, explained Berqvist. Now all grown up, the designers have adapted this make-do practice to creating clothes for flesh-and-blood women. Found materials remain a cornerstone, but the team plans to work more with deadstock to be able to scale.
Rave Review’s take on the tank top was a pieced dress constructed using a sophisticated jigsaw panel. Pointed hems and asymmetries are always present in the brand’s collections; the gently draped hems of skirts made of swaths of different materials had movement, a recurrent theme this season. Shirts were hooded, as was a smart, tailored double-breasted coat that mixed glen plaids. All of this to say there was newness and relevance to the collection, but it felt like you really had to dig to find it. A feeling of déjà vu set in from the first look, a new-last-season sheer skirt. This is not to say carryovers aren’t a good thing, but at Rave Review, textiles change at a dramatically faster pace than the silhouettes, which seemed overly familiar; the result was that the show felt repetitive. Perhaps another format, maybe one as untraditional as the brand’s practice, would better serve the designers, who deserve praise for finding a new way to exist within a system that needs talents willing to lead the charge for change.
