“It just continues,” offered the 6397 designer Lizzie Owens this morning at the brand’s showroom. “It’s what 6397 is, it’s all about real clothes, but they still have something compelling to them. It’s familiar, but it’s also new.”

Most labels, in New York or elsewhere, that offer the kinds of clothes that 6397 does—contemporary, wearable, pragmatic—swear by a similar ethos. But at 6397 it happens to be true. An all-American heather gray knit had a silver tint to it; the stripes in the knitted vests and dresses were slightly askew, and blazers were finished with gathered, almost bubble hems. Poplin shirting wasn’t reserved for button downs only, but appeared fashioned into a style reminiscent of a hoodie. Kilts and skirts were not constrictive and “body-con,” but both square-ish and flattering, and almost gender-agnostic. 

Owens said this season the 6397 team looked at “some older, demure ideas from the mid-century.” These included roomy dresses whose shapes were reminiscent of couture gowns of yore, had they been invertebrates (meaning, no boning, corseting, or such constrictions), plus bateau necklines, and even pedal-pusher-length bottoms, which Owens said she’s referring as beyond shorts. “Even a few of these names feel… old,” she said, before remarking with a laugh that in cities like New York “we are still pushing pedals, but on Citi Bikes.” 

She’s right, and she was also right in rendering said beyond shorts in knits with snaps down each exterior side seam. She was right in cutting dresses as if they were boxy tees, and in applying the bateau neckline in question to said dresses or poplin shirts, making them unprecedentedly cool. The most on-the-money she was this season, however, was in how she kept referring to these concoctions: “summer solutions.” Nothing old or demure about those.