This fall’s textural mismatches, clashing prints, bold color blocking, and mountainous silhouettes demand conviction (and a heavy hand of soft-edged neutrals) from its wearers. Confidence, that accessory which outlasts every season, has been more in-demand this year than Missoni’s line for Target; and one could, er, connect the stripes between the two since Missoni’s form-fitting, multi-colored zig zags aren’t safe throw-ons like a little black dress.

Younger designers have been coaxing us to step out in these trends too, like Schumacher, Hache, and Sunghee Bang -- whose designs can be found at any Mark Shale store. Their independent grace reminds us that that poise can come as easily from overstepping classic colors, prints, and cuts, as it does from buttoning up; but also warns that experimentation only works when you stand tall. Oakland-based singer Merrill Garbus, who performs as tUnE-YarDs, pleasantly exemplifies this thought.

Oddball, eccentric, and self-embraced silly, Merrill Garbus has an unbuttoned authority that doesn’t presume to be cool. Day-glo face paint, yards of tulle, roaring prints, and top-of-the-tree ornaments strung around her neck are a few quirks in regular rotation in her wardrobe. Garbus composes with a freedom that stems from an anti-conformist approach, too. In her songs, Garbus stretches her voice from a husky whisper to a masculine wail, provides all of her own harmonies through vocal loops, slathers on horns and skittish percussion, and strums the ukulele throughout. Like her electric color combinations and curious accents, her songs -- most notably those from her last full-length, W h o k i l l -- are delivered with an unwavering assertiveness.

Merrill Garbus’ punchy tracks are difficult to ignore but never edge on feeling contrived or frivolous. In tUnE-YarDs’ experimental realm, everything appears with purpose -- down to the unconventional capital letters in Garbus’ group’s name. Challenging the idea of trends and structure in “Killa,” Garbus declares her independence in the refrain, “I’m a new kind of woman/ I’m a don’t take shit from you kind of woman.” Taking inspiration from a spectrum of genres, “Killa” has elements of jazz, folk, R&B;, and Afro-pop -- of which the latter seeps into her personal style via bold strands of complimentary colors, bright prints, and opposing textures.

Garbus says she was never content with the music on the radio, and her motivation to create is shared by Germany’s rising designer, Schumacher. Beginning her career out of the same discontent, Dorothee Schumacher riffed off what she saw on the runway in her first collection in 1989. First playing with the idea of ‘80s business women “dressing like men,” Schumacher’s brand continues to invert classics with unexpected colors, fabrics, and cuts. Transforming a suit shell with a detachable ostrich-feather collar, an overcoat with natural hair fringe and three-quarter-length sleeves, and a cut-out, burgundy pencil skirt that mimics culottes, Schumacher designs for the anti-conformist who pulls off an effortless chic.

Listen to "Killa" below.



-- Marissa Muller, Marketing Coordinator