For Heron Preston’s second collection, the designer developed pieces with subversive humor. Taking the second step into building his unique point-of-view, Preston dipped into his personal history to create a graphic heavy, referential collection inspired by kitsch, from artworks like Jeff Koons’ ceramic sculptures to the designer’s own memories of paintings in display homes in the Northern California suburbs. This season also marks the debut of Heron Preston womenswear, presented alongside the men’s collection.

“Show House” is named for pristine model homes in suburban subdivisions, the staged living spaces with eerie perfection, teeming with non-life, designed to imagine a mini-utopian future. Memories of walking through a show house when his parents moved to the suburbs of San Francisco inspired the graphics in this collection, like an image of a bowl of fruit (wittily branded with the word “fruit” on the back) as well as the setting for the lookbook, shot outside Milan in a vacant space meant to evoke the empty lots of a subdivision-in-progress.

Preston’s research also led him to the origins of his work as a designer, modeling one piece after a display tee used for years at Jonathan Embroidery Plus on 38th Street in Manhattan, meant to show the various screen printing techniques the store offered. Preston borrowed graphics from the display shirt, from an exploding baseball to a rattlesnake, a playful homage to nonsense-as-aesthetic.

The Heron Preston Spring/Summer 2018 collection also includes new painting graphics that feature the Heron bird, borrowed from John James Audubon’s depictions, as well as the brand’s hallmark “Style” embroidery, printed in Russian. Utility wear remains a major influence for the brand, with cargo and workwear elements present in both the men’s and women’s collection.

For womenswear, Preston focused on leather elements and cropped silhouettes balanced with oversize tees and hoodies, along with a new rollout of small leather accessories.

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