Brandon Maxwell

Spring 2022 answered the confinement of the pandemic with an unusually bright, kinetic wardrobe. Low-slung silk trousers, bralettes, swimwear, oversized jackets, gingham and mushroom graphics moved the house away from the formality of its earlier runway identity towards resort dressing, relaxed separates and a more youthful scale of glamour.

The buoyant surface concealed a turning point in Maxwell’s relationship with spectacle. He later described a sense of hollowness around the traditional fashion-week party structure, and the contrast between this deliberately escapist collection and the stripped-back Fall 2022 show makes Spring 2022 an important hinge in the post-pandemic history of the label.