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This season, designer Jonny Cota took an unlikely urban-youth turn for the creation of his Skingraft collection. “I kept being inspired by the idea of Japanese Gothic hip-hop. What would that look like?” Cota said.

The collection took inspiration from hooded storytellers ranging from Buddhist monks to hip-hop lyricists finding a balance between the new age and the past. “I was listening to a lot of contemporary rap and pop music that I don’t usually have on rotation,” he said. “It was fun and it was enjoyable, and I thought this collection is going to reflect that,” he explained.

Skingraft has always had a hooded-druid feeling, but Cota took more of a lighthearted approach this time, adding streetwear inspiration to the mix.

For the runway presentation at Style Fashion Week LA on March 14, models wore bandanas and walked the runway wearing hooded jackets on their heads to reflect the urban aesthetic. The palette was made up of the brand’s signature black and muted brown and gray, and silhouettes were taken from hip-hop kids on the street. Big, oversize hoodies and belted leather jackets were layered with baggy shorts, leggings and sneakers, styled through the Skingraft filter.

Cota added plenty of understated basics to complement the collection, such as thin Modal shirts and tank tops and cotton pants to help balance out the structured leather garments. He also continued to move in a luxe direction, incorporating high-end fabrics, including the brand’s signature leather, silk and sequins. Woven dresses had leather panels, a knitted wool cardigan had leather sleeves, and shearling collars were applied to leather jackets. Details were subtly dramatic, such as the goat hair that trimmed gloves—each shaped by hand—and leather-covered studs that created a monochromatic texture on a biker jacket.

This season, Cota brought back some of the brand’s former Victorian inspiration, incorporating corsetry details in updated shapes such as a python jacket with a lace-up back. For the finale, Cota paired a Mongolian lamb-trimmed jacket with an avant-garde pleated silk skirt evoking images of a monk trekking through the snowy Himalayas.

The Fall presentation marked the return of Skingraft to the runway after a short hiatus and a welcome opportunity to present the collection as a unified vision. “I was so torn about doing another L.A. runway show,” Cota said. “And I’m so glad I did. To be able to express the whole collection in 10 minutes and to pair the music with it and the lighting and the makeup and to create that fantasy for people, it was so fulfilling, and it feels like the perfect way to punctuate and express the collection.”—N. Jayne Seward

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Skingraft in LA Times

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Skingraft in WWD

“Jonny Cota said his fall Skingraft collection was inspired by “hooded storytellers, from Buddhist monks to hip-hop artists.” Leather and knit combo hoodies and leggings were a sophisticated take on athletic wear, while the rest of the lineup featured his signature sharply tailored leather jackets and sinuous jersey tops. He went beyond his usual black by adding dark brown and dove gray to the palette, which added a polished dimension to a square-shouldered jacket paired with an intricately tiered floor-length bias cut chiffon skirt.”

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Skingraft on RACKED

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Skingraft in LA Fashion Magazine

The second show Wednesday evening at Style Fashion Week was Skingraft designed by Jonny Cota. Held at the beautiful and dramatically lit Vibiana Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles, the setting proved an ideal backdrop for Skingraft’s amazing collection consisting solely of looks in greys, blacks, and browns. Showing both menswear and womenswear on their Fall 2012 runway, Skingraft is perfect for the chic downtown customer who values casual clothing with an edge. In a way, it feels as if Skingraft has captured the elusive mix of New York’s downtown edginess and LA’s more relaxed vibe. Their clothing is absolutely ideal for the urbanite on either coast who wants to seamlessly transition from active daywear into chic nightlife wear, with the exception perhaps of two gorgeous floor length evening gowns at the end of the collection.
Beginning the show with a series of monotone grey looks, red lipped models walked the runway in grey leggings, chic low boots, grey hoodies, and belted vests. Each look sent down the runway was a case study in the perfect way to stylishly layer clothing as the show gradually progressed from grey to brown to black looks. One of the many positives about these clothes is the mixing and matching versatility inherent in the collection. I could easily imagine pairing a pair of the brown pants with one of the black leather jackets or one of the grey vests with a pair of the black leather leggings. Personal highlights (since I feel it’s wrong to simply say I’m in love with the entire collection even though it’s true!) were a killer brown leather, cropped bomber jacket paired with a leather beanie hat and a gorgeous, fitted black leather jacket with dramatic, puffed shoulders. Rounding out the collection were two crowd pleasing evening looks; the first a long, grey silk skirt which appeared as if it practically floated down the runway and the second a long, fitted black dress embellished with large black sequins, giving the piece a slightly mermaid like appearance.
<BR? After the show, I had a chance to speak with Cota who says the collection was inspired by “hip hop fusion with buddhist monks.” Expanding on this concept, the card laid on our seats at the show explains that “the Fall/Winter 2012 collection is inspired by hooded storytellers, from ancient Buddhist monks to modern day hip hop lyricists. Oversized and sheltering, the hooded silhouettes in the collection act as protective armor while navigating through urban metal jungles.” Hoods were indeed a continuing element throughout the collection as well as mesh headpieces which shielded the model’s forehead and eyes. Clearly illustrating this concept of protection, every model sent down the runway wore either a hood, a headpiece, or a hat.

After viewing their Fall 2012 collection, I’m genuinely excited about the future for Skingraft. Their pieces remind me of such esteemed collections by Rick Owens, Ann Demeulemeester, and Alexander Wang. When I asked Cota what designers he was inspired by, he responded, “I love the really freaky people that step outside the box. Like Margiela and Thierry Mugler and people who really play with construction and don’t really play by the rules.” Judging by the enthusiastic applause at the close of the show, I’d say Cota just described his own collection pretty perfectly.

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Nicki Minaj in custom SKINGRAFT

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