Brand: Advisory Board Crystals ABC.123.
Season: Fall/Winter 2021
Buy: Advisory Board Crystals' website
Editor's Notes: Advisory Board Crystals has splashed everything from fungi prints to climate change info across the humble hoodie, so it's appropriate that the seasonal staple and its sibling silhouettes — the crewneck pullover, the sweatpant — form the basis of Advisory Board Crystals' basics-minded Abc.123. FW21 collection.
Abc.123 launched in January 2021 as a more approachable, seasonless ABC offering. This follow-up drop, which launched in early November after nine months of development, takes that conceit to the functional extreme.
Instead of dabbling in pattern or print, Abc.123 FW21 focuses on extremely beefy jersey and fleece staples. ABC's signature athleisure aesthetic is on hand, alongside fan-favorite work shirts and ripstop easy pants fitted with RFE and EMF-frequency blocking "PulsePockets."
In total, there are nearly over a dozen distinct silhouettes here, all imagined in eight colors. Advisory Board Crystals is preaching the gospel of uniform dressing, with its garments distinguished by weight and detail rather than dynamic design flair.
"Simplicity is rebellion," ABC says when describing the new Abc.123. goods.
It certainly feels that way when we're inundated by flashy logos and big branding. Not that there's anything wrong with louder garments, though: ABC dabbles in statement dressing for its mainline collection.
Some casual shoppers mistakenly assume that fabric weight is the sole factor in determining quality — this is a flawed metric usually rooted in the idea that meatier textiles cost more and are therefore better.
There's some extremely fine cashmere and linen out there that puts cheaper and heavier fabrics to shame.
But substantiveness is part of the bigger picture related to quality. Abc.123. aims to provide the complete image, from the heavyweight fabrics to the time-intensive finishing.
These are staples that'll last a lifetime, should you choose to rebel with them.
