Why New York designer Kate Hundley has Madonna on repeat

Kate Hundley seems to be getting into her rhythm.

After she put her line aside in 2020 to take a "COVID[-19] break", The New York City-based designer resurfaced for Station 2022 with a brighter take on the Victorian Americana she's lived in since working for Zac Posen and Ralph Lauren.

While this collection borrowed from Madonna's blip of a Western glam phase in the early 2000s, the singer's ability to stylistically reinvent herself saw Hundley reconnect for the pre-fall. This time, his 80s new-wave sound hit the right note.

Kate Hundley Pre-Fall 2023.

"For me, music is a mood ring for underlying feelings and conflicts Roe vs. Wade was knocked down the day after my last pitch, so frankly, I felt a little angry,” Hundley said.

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Cue fishnet, corsetry and leather.

The latter looked particularly slick like an elongated motorcycle jacket with laces. Elsewhere, it's been cut into strips and pierced together with metal rings to form a car wash skirt and mini dress.

Inspired by the Japanese armor she encountered at the Metropolitan Museum, Hundley said she had used the technique to explore connection in times of crisis when people are “seeking support and control to create strength.” The accessories-trained designer took the theme to the construction of a patent leather top-handle bag, her first under her own name.

To sweeten things up, there were briefs — one came with sequins, one another in raspberry-coloured jacquard, and the last in black viscose had eyelets following the contours of the body.

Meanwhile, the collection's woolen outerwear featured rounded mid-length lines. century, except for a studded chore jacket. Worn over flared black pants, it laid the foundation for a more streamlined, cosmopolitan look that Hundley should continue to lean into.

Kate Hundley