Ulla Johnson Pre-Fall 2018....Fashionweekly....On Fow24news.com

Ulla Johnson is coming up on her 20th year in business. Beyond the “Where did the time go?” sensations, the anniversary has had her thinking about her brand and what it stands for....

Pre-launch, in her college days, Johnson studied women’s studies; it was the 1990s, and fashion was an unlikely path for a politicized twenty something. “Back then,” she recalled, “pretty didn’t equal powerful; and I think that’s been my lifework: exploding the binary between feminism and femininity.

For Pre-Fall, Johnson wanted something strong and graphic. “What does power dressing mean to me?” she asked. Not shoulder pads, for starters. Though she abandoned much of the ethereality that defined her Spring outing, Johnson didn’t rewrite her rule book entirely. Tailoring, where it appeared, was cut from playful, polka-dotted denim destined for best-seller-dom, or it came in black jersey for a result that was more leisure suit than power suit. Johnson paired her sweats with heels, which is a testament to how much workplace dress codes have changed, even if the sexual politics of workplaces have a long, long way to go.

Other Pre-Fall developments included a relaxed peacoat in a faux “teddy bear” fur and lofty hand-knits from Peru including a flecked and fringed alpaca crewneck. Both materials you have to feel to believe. Of course, there was no shortage of the pretty frocks that have turned Johnson into a 20-years-in-the-making overnight success with a beautiful boutique on Bleecker Street and a presence at Barneys New York that other contemporary-priced brands dream of. Just a thought: When it comes time to hand out fashion awards in 2018, her fellow feminists in the industry could toss Johnson’s name in the ring.