Gingham’s Checkered Present

Gingham typically stirs up feelings of nostalgia, but lately designers are doing their part to modernize the classic checks. Derek Lam opened his Spring show with eight crisply tailored, crosshatched looks; Delpozo creative director Josep Font paired the graphic pattern with cheerful sunflowers; and Olivier Rousteing put his signature glam spin on the trend at Balmain with plaid bomber jackets and kicky skirts accompanied by chunky chain jewelry. As seen on the 3.1 Phillip Lim and Mark McNairy New Amsterdam menswear runways, buffalo-plaid pieces have been earning style points with the guys, too. Meanwhile, model off duty Marine Deleeuw looked like Lolita incarnate in her sweet pink-and-white shirtdress, and we spotted plenty of gingham items from Prada’s cinematic Fall ’13 collection in the streets. As Isaac Mizrahi told Style.com a few years ago at a Resort presentation, “Gingham is like a solid with a lot of personality.” Agreed.