Sure, we could (and do) talk endlessly about the clothes we love, but for our column Line Item, we ask some of our favorite designers to tell us what they think about the best pieces from their newest collections. Today, Luis Fernandez of Number:Lab tells us about the Titanium Windbreaker:
This is that easy and breezy, super lightweight, wind and rain type of jacket. The point was to be very light but very durable—my favorite part is that there's actually titanium powder in the PU-coating of the fabric, which means the fabric can be thin but really, really warm and tough. I'm always looking back at fashion history at how designers have tackled a lot of the same basic issues of keeping out the elements, enhancing speed and staying comfortable, and I'm always interested in creating the new version of that lineage: pieces for how we live, work and play in a much more modern and fast world. I'm always thinking about function, so the shock-chord toggles at the hem allow you to cinch it to keep out the elements and the hood is detachable so you can keep it on when it's raining or take it off for a more polished look. The vertical chest pocket is the ideal spot for the iPhone. The silver came from my obsession with silver-colored vintage racing Porches, marathon runners keeping warm and recovering from their big feat in the foil blankets, the renderings of Zaha Hadid’s metal skin for the stadium for the 2019 Rugby World cup. These images all conjured up an idea of speed and of lightness, in a way that was very appropriate as a reference point, to translate into how we dress and how our clothes can be enablers of great achievement.