What is downtown style anymore? Is it a look rooted in a particular neighborhood that hearkens back to a specific era? Or is it more of a state of mind that transcends geography and evolves over time? Designers Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta, based in New York City and Los Angeles, respectively, capture this elusive essence, even if the term itself seems increasingly reductive.

Whatever you call it, that sensibility is apparent in the duo’s focus on dressing up the casual and expanding the vocabulary that continues to resonate with their base. It’s about evolving their existing designs rather than starting with a new reference point each season. In fact, they don’t work with direct inspiration at all.

Latta refers to it as “making more friends,” while Eckhaus likens it to a party. “Some concepts are like people that stay there longer. And then when someone enters in every season, there’s new energy, and there’s some people who evolve and you’re working through ideas creatively. Then there’s things where you’re like, ‘OK, we’re over that,’ we’re moving on.”

Some of that new energy came through in the season’s washes, fabrications and treatments. A standout was a subtle metallic plum skirt with front and back slits, rendered in a cross-woven polyester fabric whose luster shone with the shift in light.

Movement emerged as a recurring theme, whether in the way a jersey organza tee gathered and scrunched as the model walked or transparent layers that twisted and molded to the body. Many of the garments were cut on the curve, intended to create these effects, and not limit it to a singular mode of wearing the pieces. Nothing felt overly conceptual, the closest being a detachable zippered flap on the back of some of the pants. Yet the collection was far from simple.

That’s where Eckhaus and Latta’s strength lies. Fifteen years into building their label, and not one but two J.Crew collaborations under their belt — which was shown on the runway after the main collection — they’ve mastered the balance between innovation and wearability, creating clothes that feel directional without seeming forced. Their designs push ideas forward while remaining grounded in how people actually want to dress, never making the wearer look as though they’re trying too hard.

As Eckhaus put it, “It’s nice to just kind of really sink into certain things and work around it for a season or two, and and let it evolve in practice and then those ideas will shift down.”