What better a designer to think up a dynamite denim collection than Matthew Adams Dolan for Jacob Cohën; it’s as if the denim gods dreamt it up! Jacob Cohën, led by artistic director Jennifer Tommasi Bardelle, is an Italian maison and a maestro of denim, known for proposing the most pop fabric in fashion as a status symbol. Its artisanally skillful expertise and obsessive attention to detail were what set it apart in a word of luxury which was already overflowing with denim designers. Now, Cohën’s legacy is continued in the hands of Matthew Adams Dolan who, on the other hand, is an American new generation cross-genre creative and International Woolmark Prize and LVMH Prize finalist whose own namesake label has denim in its DNA. Dolan even collaborated with Rihanna on her Fenty x Puma collections, creating top-notch denim for her buzzy brand – and we all know that Rihanna knows best. Under the veil of a heritage house and this Riri-approved collaborative design director, this capsule sees American denim culture melt into Italian craftsmanship.
By Dolan’s needle and thread, everything remains rife with the themes and techniques of Cohën’s central collection, yet classic elements are completely reinterpreted: for example, Cohën’s trucker, 5-pocket jean becomes delicate and airy and gathers feminine features. The eponymous label’s signature vaquero shirts too, becomes graciously girly. But the usual sturdiness is not forgotten by Dolan whose denim treatments come in crisp and translucent cotton organdy as well. Period references work their way into Cohën’s traditional silhouettes too, as embroidered scalloped hems, collars, pintucks and other heirloom sewing techniques.
Dolan gives the palette a sensual update as well with pretty pastels are the core – think pink, lilac, sage, coral and yellow. Turquoise is inlaid in rivets and woven in with cross stitching too, bringing a calmly audacious touch to the offering.
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