This September will mark 20 years since Andreas Melbostad’s New York Fashion Week debut as the creative director of Phi, a line backed by Susan Dell. Just under two years ago the Norwegian designer—who has an impressive résumé that includes stints working at Calvin Klein and DKNY, with Alber Elbaz at Lanvin, and as the head of Diesel Black Gold’s coed collections—launched his own line, made in Italy, from his home base in Oslo. He said he was looking to create a “new Scandinavian vision.” By this he means focusing on using sustainable materials to create small, evolutionary collections that are function- rather than trend-focused. Invariably, they take weather into account, as it is so variable in the Nordics, which means there’s a lot of outerwear, much of it referencing military and utility wear.
Fall’s collection included many familiar silhouettes, but the designer worked his garments inside and out (a parka/blazer, he noted on a call, had a recycled wool lining), as well as inside-out (“inspired by military linings,” a men’s coat was made of wool fleece jersey). These switch-ups ran throughout; there was a pair of men’s cargos in quilted nylon rather than cotton drill. Similarly a men’s biker was made of recycled wool felt; for women there was a leather, wool hybrid topper.
Melbostad explained that his deep dive into womenswear this season allowed him “to create some elements in the collection that add a sort of sexiness and more dynamic feeling.” At Phi, the designer often played with corsetry, and this collection included a girdle skirt. Melbostad worked the women’s silhouette in two ways, keeping it on the straight and narrow in the case of jeans with inset stretch panels and a bodycon scuba dress, and softening it elsewhere. A “hybrid aviator trench,” for instance, had a defined waist and a turned under hem, a curved shape that poufed out more dramatically in bubble miniskirts (including one in parachute material). Fabric was gently gathered into the neckline of a cropped field jacket. That push-and-pull between a higher, tighter pants fit syncopated with small explosions of volume was in line with overarching seasonal themes.