Rag & Bone brings the ‘70s surf scene closer to the city

The designers turned out a new spring collection Friday at New York Fashion Week that used a stylish hand to rework the sporty shapes and bright colors one expects to see at the beach to make them urban appropriate.

They used the emerging bright color palette from this round of previews and embraced wearable layers, including a mesh top with a knit biker jacket and a rough-edge tweed blanket jacket worn with a mesh blouse.

The collection evolved as the designers — maybe haphazardly — moved back and forth from their original inspiration to the clean lines of modern architecture. And, oh yeah, they tossed in a little retro parachute fabric, too.

They wanted it to be about more than the expected neoprene, although ‘70s surfers served as an inspiration, Wainwright said.

They used “a lot of fabrication,” he said, “perforated fabrics which went back to the neoprene but went back to the architecture as well, parachutes made it in there somehow. I don’t really know how, but there’s some parachutes a lot of parachute stuff and parachute influences in there. It’s just sort of a blend of all of those things.”

Nothing like a tailored navy crepe jacket paired with a turquoise poncho and black bandeau bikini top.

Of course that’s the way the runway is styled, and even there the outfits did all come together in a way that suits the label’s fashion-forward customer. The key pieces — those ponchos, crochet tops, neon bikinis, leather hooded sweatshirts, gaucho pants and asymmetrical skirts — could stand on their own in the closets of the designers’ fans.

Count Nicole Fritton, Harper’s Bazaar fashion market director, among them. “Rag and Bone was a spot on blend of sportif and sportswear,” she said. “David and Marcus knocked the stuffing out of suiting, reimagined Escher-esque prints, and balanced a boyish fit with summery swim sex appeal for a super solid show.”