Despite only having 4 hours’ sleep the night before, I woke up bright and early in the AM to catch the Proenza Schouler livestream at 8am Malaysian time (that’s 8pm EST). Since I don’t have the closeup detail shots of the bags, I’d do something that I seldom do: a runway review of the clothes instead of the bags, only because I watched the livestream. 🙂

In fact, livestreaming is a genius idea, because it really is better than a front row seat. Everyone in front of their computers and smart phones got to see Anna Wintour, Caryne Roitfeld, Derek Blasberg, Grace Coddington, Hamish Bowles, Bryanboy, and of course, Anna Dello Russo take their seats at the coveted FROW. What’s not to love?

The show began at 8:30pm EST (8.30am Malaysian time), making it half and hour behind schedule. But then again, apart from Marc, no one else really begins their show on time, now, do they? After all, the phrase “fashionably late” was coined for a reason.

The first look was a vest made of a combination of python and leather. After the next few looks, it became clear that python-leather patchwork was the key theme that McCollough and Hernandez were working with for Spring/Summer 2013.

I wasn’t at all loving the python-leather patchwork looks. If it was for Fall/Winter I’d understand, but  the only thing that kept going through my mind was this: so much leather and exotic skins (we’re talking entire dresses and skirts and even blazers and jackets here) for the Spring/Summer season would be a major sweatfest, no? Then came crochet tops and perforated laser-cut leather separates. Now, I was just about to write the entire collection off, but then the digital prints were unleashed during the second half of the show. And these pieces literally blew me away! . Sure, you may think that digital prints have been done way too much – remember Givenchy and Peter Pilotto? – but since patchwork was the theme the Proenza boys were going for, the prints were cut into strips, mixed with leather, and pieced together into a dress. The result? Dresses that looked completely avant garde, and almost architectural, to say the least.

The Proenza duo’s sartorial sensibilities seem to have transformed with their Spring/Summer 2013 collection. Gone are the fresh fashion graduate days. They have indeed matured rather tastefully with this Spring/Summer 2013 collection. A dawn of a new era for the Proenza boys? Well, I certainly think so. Their first ever store on Madison Avenue is a testament to this.

Note: if you missed the livestream, you can still watch the runway show via Proenza Schouler’s on-demand service here

Images via Style.com.