Flashy metallic sequins and vampy black lace are typically reserved for a night out on the town, but the new DKNY Resort collection translated those glam materials into everyday looks by incorporating them into sporty silhouettes. Bomber jackets, for example, came in gold leather or encrusted with allover sequins, while updated track pants done in silver-foiled French terry were backed in lightweight crepe. Styled with tailored jackets or capes and pointy heels—as they were in the lookbook—many of those elevated athletic pieces could easily transition to evening. Other standouts that achieved this high-low mix included flouncy day dresses cut from a spongy technical mesh, as well as an embellished sweatshirt shown with a black crocheted maxi skirt. All in all, a successful, modern balancing act.
—Brittany Adams
Runway Feed

Roberto Cavalli’s customer is the tough-as-nails kind of girl who never leaves the house without a smudged ring of kohl around her eyes, so it was a change of pace to see the Just Cavalli design team tap into her softer side for Resort. The new lineup achieved this fresh sense of lightness by fusing bucolic florals with Japanese art motifs—all of which were, of course, mixed up with Cavalli’s signature animal prints.

There was a pajama-like ease to not only a gauzy tank dress with mesh insets and high slits with a built-in leopard slip underneath but also a colorful chiffon shirttail camisole and a matching pair of relaxed trousers. Eastern influences came in the form of origami folds along the hemline of a jacquard miniskirt and the Hokusai-esque wave patterns seen on a knit pullover and a silk blouse with cool French cuffs. The Just Cavalli team didn’t entirely suppress its maximalist tendencies here. Case in point: the exotic leopard-swan hybrid that appeared on some of the collection’s flashier evening looks. Apparently, you can’t change a leopard’s, or a bird’s, spots.
—Brittany Adams
Runway Feed

Sometimes the inspiration you’re searching for has been right in front
of
you all along. Such was the case this season for Elie Tahari, who
rediscovered a series of photos of Eero Saarinen’s TWA Terminal that had
been hanging in his office for years. The structure of the
once-futuristic flight center provided the blueprint for Tahari’s Resort
outing, which focused on both linear and curved silhouettes executed in
a predominantly black-and-white palette. There were flattering fit-and-flare frocks cut from either lightweight crepe or ultra-thin leather
(the
latter style had a cool floating seam detail at the hemline), as well as
slim stretch jacquard trousers. Layered chiffon tanks and shirtdresses
showed off the contour of the body, and a cocoon-shaped jacket with
adjustable zippers on each sleeve also added dimensionality to the
lineup.

Fashion has been on a graphic black-and-white kick for a couple of
seasons now, so it was the few pops of color among the
office-appropriate staples that felt freshest here. The collection
could’ve benefited from more pieces like the easy silk shift featuring a
zesty lime laser-light motif or a cherry-jam-hued biker jacket (which
unfortunately didn’t make it into the lookbook).
—Brittany Adams
Runway Feed

With her focus on jubilant engineered prints, “every season is Resort at Clover Canyon,” said designer Rozae Nichols at a showroom appointment. Cuba was the destination of the latest lineup, so she spliced together Havana-themed motifs like classic Caddy cars, cigars, tropical fruit, jute, and vibrant mosaic tiles—stretching and wrapping the images for a figure-flattering result. Per usual, the patterns did most of the talking, so Nichols kept the silhouettes relatively simple, adding the occasional flamenco-inspired flounce to the sleeves or hemlines of day dresses. Bomber jackets and cropped “sarong” pants gave the collection sporty appeal, as did the stretchy neoprene used throughout, notably on a strapless A-line frock and what was perhaps the most memorable piece: a novelty sweatshirt featuring a hand-drawn portrait of eccentric cigar-roller Mavis Toussaint Fuentes puffing away. For the most part, fashion seems to have moved away from the digital-print craze in favor of a more pared-down look, but according to Nichols, prints will always be the Clover Canyon medium, and she kept them looking fresh here.
—Brittany Adams
Runway Feed

Gucci‘s creative director, Frida Giannini, and Patrizio di Marco, the company’s president and CEO, welcomed the birth of their daughter, Greta, back in March. This did not seem to have influenced the Resort collection Giannini showed by appointment this week—until you started noticing that, cumulatively, there was a more relaxed sensibility in effect. Oversized tunics were paired up with wide-legged trousers and lightweight cashmere coats tied up like nightgowns.

If anything, the focus this time around was on rarefied materials applied to an essential travel checklist; what could be cozier than a hoodie in woven mink? And don’t leave home without your woven Lurex kimono gown, crystal-embroidered pajama set, or metallic laminated leather trench. The shimmer balanced out the slouch, but it ultimately functioned as a design sleight of hand; the real decadence was in the sense of undone-ness.

Giannini riffed on a wide range of references. It was easy enough to detect a Rio de Janeiro sunset in the hand-embroidered iridescent sequins, and day dresses printed with parasols, beach balls, and hearts looked like Jerry Hall 2.0. The horse bits were back on shoulder bags and stilettos alike; such house codes are as integral to the brand image as the glam sequin-embroidered dresses.

While there were few weak links in this generally confident collection, the jogging outfit in jumbo paisley was a less successful athletic upgrade than the warm-up jacket in ocher perforated suede. And what to make of the short-sleeve sweatshirt that read, “Stardust is a glittering superstar” in tiny studs? This was either a lost-in-translation expression or an obscure Bowie shout-out. (Gucci is currently sponsoring the David Bowie Is exhibition at London’s V&A Museum.) Much clearer was the version emblazoned with “Frida’s”—the first time Giannini’s name has appeared on any item since she arrived at the house in 2005. Now more than ever, this is Mamma Frida’s moment.
—Alex Veblen
Runway Feed