Brandon Maxwell Pre-Fall 2022 Collection

Where are all the prints? During the lockdowns, when designers across the board were soul-searching, Brandon Maxwell began dabbling with extroverted graphic motifs and animal patterns, a career first. But just as quickly as they emerged, they’ve disappeared again. The soul-searching is ongoing, but the prints are not. “This is what I like,” Maxwell said in a spacious new showroom off Fifth Avenue, nodding at racks of clothes in solid shades black, white, cream, and olive; aesthetically he leans minimal, but he’s got a maximalist’s heart.

Maxwell described this pre-fall collection as a palette cleanser for his February show, which he hopes to organize a bit differently than previous outings. It’s too early for details, but it’s safe to say that he’s thinking more about dress-making and less about brand-building these days. Draping on the form with his AirPods in is his happy place, and it shows in these pieces, whose clean lines and unfussed attitude belie the care and thoughtfulness that went into them.

A trio of column dresses warrant special attention for their streamlined elegance; two are in jersey with subtly draped necklines, and the third is in a cashmere rib with a twisted, off-the-shoulder silhouette. Another dress with a more fit-and-flare shape is built with an internal corset, while the easy blouson tops on vegan leather shirtdresses are achieved with a few nips and tucks. The shirtdress also comes in silver sequins.

Maxwell may have reverted to monochromatic form, but that doesn’t mean his tailoring is unchanged. The cashmere blend pantsuit here is looser and more swaggering than the ones he used to cut in the past. He’s also showing an easier jean with a dip in the waist, to elongate the torso. At first glance, this is a more sober collection than his recent ones, but he hasn’t forgotten sexy.