There’s no one who does effortless summer cool quite like Isabel Marant. And for her latest collection, she proposed what could be the next big thing — bathing suit dressing.
Think a white halter tank suit scooped out at the sides worn with slouchy parachute silk cargo pants, a black tank suit with a black lattice knit tank dress on top, or a white ruched bandeau and matching V-front ruched pants made of swimsuit material.
“I love swimming so I am very attracted to swimming suits. They are something very easy to wear in summer, you just take off your trousers and go into the sea, and they are so small in your luggage. This is how to be dressy in your bathing suit also,” the designer said backstage of the foundational pieces in the vacation-ready collection.
The designer reconfigured her show space at the Palais Royale to be less of a party, which seems to be the mood this season. “We are speaking about poetic nonchalance. We did a much more peaceful atmosphere, more delicate pieces, very airy, breezy, simple. It’s not about layering,” she said.
Marant contrasted parachute shorts, coats and utility jumpsuits with romantic lace slips and ribbed knit tank dresses that had Art Nouveau inspired curlicue detailed necklines. Sweatshirts and polo shirts for men and women were elevated in colorful nubby checked tweeds. Embroidered jeans, some with tiny fraying color patches, and denim all-in-ones also looked refined.
The designer has a flair for creating must-have leather pieces, and this season’s was a sexy short-sleeve, side-draped minidress in the accent color du jour, red.
She also dipped her toes in more evening wear, including a clingy black number with flossy straps, and touched on the fringe trend with shimmying silver minis and shorts. Lace button down shirts were a great warm-weather alternative to a jacket, or there was a beautiful cream lace one-shouldered poncho that was an outfit in itself with a matching white bikini bottom.
Good looking wedge sandals and sock booties rounded out the commercial range that left the front row full of retailers all smiles.
For more PFW reviews, click here.
Source: WWD