Sometime over this past summer, Wibke Deertz issued a statement on her website announcing to the world that she would be changing the name of her unisex line of clothing from ADD to A Deertz, and would be focusing exclusively on men. It's a bold move for any designer to change the name of their brand after almost a decade, but in Deertz's case, a pretty smart one.
Deertz has often erroneously been credited as a man, mainly because her German name is confusing to English speakers but also because menswear designers are 99% male (this excludes the ambidextrous kind that do both). Between the members of staff present in the FADER style department this morning, we could only think of a few lady menswear designers: supremely talented Brits Carolyn Massey, Katie Eary and New Yorker Eunice Lee of Unis. Bless them! When we first spoke to Deertz, it was earlier this year for a story in our May/June issue, just a collection shy of the transition. She told us stories of her adventures in Bangkok, and how escaping the grey streets of Berlin had inspired the tropical palette she'd chosen for ADD Spring 2009.
Her Spring 2010 offering officially falls under the new label, and draws on cooler summer tones. Slouchy slate grey pants are paired with turquoise sweaters and muted yellow button-downs, and there's even a charcoal-colored suit in the collection (suiting is the final frontier when it comes to tailoring after all). The lookbook was probably shot in her native Germany, but the landscape of empty swimming pools and evening sunlight could just as easily be Southern California—as could the clothes.
