Like many other brands and labels, Brownstone used their time under lockdowns to reflect on the brand’s identity and push their creative cues to new heights. The end result: Brownstone’s largest and most thoughtful collection to date.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles-based brand, led by twin brothers Warner and Waverly Watkins, lifted the curtain on their spring/summer 2021 range, titled Chairs Missing: The Difference Between Looking & Seeing. The name is derived from the sophomore album of English rock band Wire, as well as a 2005 song from the Los Angeles band Ceremony.
“Chairs Missing was created entirely during the COVID pandemic mainly from our office/showroom/living space,” Waverly told Complex. “Because of the isolation we were able to sit with certain things such as color pallets, mood, and direction for the pieces a lot more and on a very personal level. Again, there’s a strong connection to the involvement of senses, which is interesting since ‘touch’ was limited. We always operate in the sense that you have to see the pieces to truly understand the beauty of the brand, so we were constantly thinking of how we could convey that in a time of such limited interaction.”
Waverly said the new offering is two collections in one: There is a range of ready-to-wear pieces and the newly launched “Readymade” collection that delivers permanent designs like T-shirts, hoodies, crewnecks, and sweats—all of which are cut and sewed in Brown’s LA factory.
“For the ready to wear pieces we added intricate details like custom hardware,” he added. “All of the pants this season have rivets that we created using a mold of both our thumbprint graphics and merged together. For the Readymades it was little nuances like the blind stitch and bonded collar that reference some of Warner’s favorite vintage tees that elevates them.”
Key items include Brownstone’s Reversible Sukajan Bomber Jacket, the 14 Pocket Cargo Pant, double-knee workwear jeans in eggshell white, and a matching chore coat. Of course, the brand is also offering a solid selection of knitwear, including an olive leopard-print mohair cardigan available exclusively at Ssense.
“This collection is inspired by the lingering of the past and the sense of loneliness that can deliver,” Warner said. “When COVID originally hit it made us reflect on the brand as it was five years ago when we started and the core of what we originally focused on in the beginning – the storytelling, the fabric selections, the color stories.”
You can check out Brownstone’s spring/summer 2021 lookbook, shot by Atlanta photographer Neri, below. The bulk of the collection will be available at the brand’s webstore in the near future.
