“Simplicity is the last word sophistication,” it has been mentioned. Emilio de la Morena took that precept to coronary heart this season. And thank goodness: De la Morena’s dressmaking skills shine brightest when he pares his appears all the way down to their essences, but he incessantly evinces an aversion to doing that, as if afraid his designs received’t appear distinctive except he overcomplicates them. Not so right here. This was a set with an easy mandate—fairly attire—and its thrives had been comparatively few. Which made for some knockout frocks to put on to a cocktail do.
The designer offered a fabric-focused lineup. De la Morena has nice style with regards to textiles, and the supplies he used served to raise his most matter-of-fact seems to be. The cream-color jacquard, as an illustration, launched an earthy observe to a soigné pencil gown, courtesy of the pebbled texture. Tonal striped black gazar was not solely horny, given its semi-transparency, however it additionally allowed de la Morena to play along with his signature geometric results with out detracting from the gathering’s understated temper. Elsewhere, plain pink or yellow silk had an ideal, limpid drape—a kind of qualities in garments that appears no-brainer however is definitely devilishly onerous to realize.
Probably the most placing items, in the meantime, have been the pastel frocks and dressy separates embroidered with patches in metallic brocade. The patches have been within the form of “mountain flowers,” de la Morena mentioned; the sample they made was redolent of leopard print, which wasn’t a foul factor. There was additionally a really cool green-toned organza brocade with metallic cloth filaments left uncovered. The impact was a contact uncanny, in a great way, and right here particularly de la Morena’s technique of hewing to traditional A-line silhouettes allowed the specialness of his materials to talk for itself.
This assortment wasn’t easy within the sense that it was minimal or primary. It was easy in that it wasn’t cluttered by a bunch of superfluous concepts. There have been simply a few superfluities; however then, simplicity is a self-discipline. It’s a muscle. This season, de la Morena started once more to work it out.
