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The New School of Equestrian Fashion
03/23/2009
The equestrian world, and equestrian fashion, is much more of an influence on high fashion than people realize.
Chloe designer Phoebe Philo goes horse riding with Stella McCartney. Gucci’s logo is a modified bit and stirrup. Luxury French line Hermès started off over a century ago as a saddle shop: you can still see the equestrian touch in their modern-day logo. The equestrian world, and equestrian fashion, is much more of an influence on high fashion than people realize.
When people think of the influence of the equestrian lifestyle on fashion, the first name that comes to mind is Ralph Lauren. Though Lauren pioneered equestrian-chic, it’s interesting to note that he wasn’t someone who grew up around horses. Before he launched the equestrian-themed Polo brand in 1967 (then only a line of wide ties), Lauren was a former soldier who worked at a necktie-manufacturing plant. For Lauren, equestrian clothing was more about a school of thought, a lifestyle. As Lauren himself recalls on his website, “I believed that men were ready for something new and different. They didn’t want to look as if they worked for IBM. A beautiful tie was an expression of quality, taste, style.” To be an equestrian man was to be an English Equestrian: polished, rich, sophisticated.
Ah yes, the English Equestrian School. Just as the horse world has the English and Western schools of riding, the fashion world draws influence from two schools of equestrian looks. Designers like Ralph Lauren, Hermès, Donna Karen, and Abaeté’s favor equestrian fashions in the English School: high-neck blouses, black vests, leggings or jodhpurs, and knee-high polished boots. This equestrian look is more elegant, refined, and has a traditionalism which makes it an attractive influence for Europe’s equestrian-loving designers.
The New Zealand Harold recently wrote a piece about equestrian-obsessed designers such as Balenciaga's Nicholas Ghesquiere, who sits squarely in the English Equestrian School. Throughout the years, Ghesquiere has integrated equestrian fashions like jodhpurs, fitted jackets, vests, and riding boots into Balenciaga’s future-forward vision. In the same vein is British designer Luella Bartley, who can’t stay away from the English equestrian world. Her first collection (“Daddy, I Want a Pony”) was so equestrian in feel, it felt more like actual equestrian fashion than equestrian-influenced fashion. That would explain why Bartley was chosen to design the equestrian uniforms for the British youth show-jumping team. As Bartley told the U.K. paper The Independent, “[I have] always had a connection with horses, and my collections have always been slightly equestrian-based. No matter what we do, it’s always a bit English and horsey”.
Most English-equestrian followers are European, or hail from New York and New England. But in America, once you leave the East Coast, ‘equestrian’ means something a little different for designers. Much of American popular clothing, especially in the Southwest, is influenced by another kind of equestrian fashion: the Western Equestrian School. Just as Western-style riding is more rugged and rough, Western-equestrian fashion is more cowboy than stable boy. Led by labels Jordache, William Rast, Rebecca Minkoff, and Lela Rose, Western equestrian-chic has become a popular inspiration in the world of high fashion.
New York’s Fashion Week for Fall 2009 was full of Western-equestrian fashion. Take Minkoff’s equestrian-inspired mid-calf flat boots in butter yellow. She combined English-equestrian shape with Western-equestrian leather work. Lela Ross’s line toyed with the Western-equestrian stable jacket, traditionally a thick, fleece-lined flannel coat worn by ranchers.
Western-equestrian clothing is still popular in outlets such as Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie because it has that rebellious, Old-West feel. But a new school of designer has started to emerge in America: one who combines Western-equestrian and English-equestrian fashion in order to play off the contrasting tones. The result is polished-punk, wild-innocence, and entirely unique. One of the new faces of the Western-English Hybrid School of equestrian fashion is Kimberly Ovitz.
The daughter of former Disney CEO Michael Ovitz, Kimberly worked at YaYa and Imitation of Christ before starting her own equestrian-themed line in 2009. An avid rider since age 9, Kimberly wanted her clothing to be somewhere between the equestrian fashion worlds. “I imagine my dresses on a woman riding sidesaddle and bareback” Ovitz told W in the March 2009 issue. “I want to build a brand around an equestrian American lifestyle.” The idea of English equestrian and the idea of Western equestrian are finally coming together. And what is America if not a melting pot of ideas?
