Exclusive: TOME NYFW AW12 Presentation
Designers Ryan Lobo and Ramon Martin invites us into their studio for an exclusive look at their latest collection.
TOM's AW12 collection may have been born from visions of Cold War Russia, but where it'll end up, most likely, is in your closet. Everyone from ratty beach bums to pearl-clutching conservatives will feel at home TOME's latest designs. (I'm guessing an oversized cotton jacket for the beach bum and an elegant polyester kaftan for the pearl-clutchers amongst us.)
Designers Ryan Lobo and Ramon Martin took inspiration from the influx of American goods onto the black market in Soviet Russia. We thought a lot about Russians buying into the 'American Dream,' literally, by buying things like American Levi jeans in whatever size was available and wearing them like they were as precious as a fur coat." This idea translated into a conscious mixing of high and low fabrics and silhouettes in the collection, like lurex with polyester or a boxy jacket with a slim skirt. I should mention that every piece, even the bandage dresses, or "sexy Spanx" as Martin calls them, looks insanely comfortable. Like the kind of thing you could just throw on, no hassle involved. TOME gives the illusion that you can look like a million bucks without having to put in any of the effort. Come on, who doesn't want that?
One thing that separates TOME from its Soviet Russian inspiration for AW12 is its design mantra. "We're really not dictators," says Lobo. "We love the idea that people can make our clothing their own. Our clothes are meant to slip into a woman's wardrobe, not redefine her. In that way, the woman who is the ideal TOME woman is someone who knows what she wants."
In that case, I'll take the palazzo pants and felt top, please and thank you.
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Words: Steff Yotka
Photography: Nick Sweeney
