Stella McCartney – Pre Spring/Summer 2016 Ready-To-Wear

Stella McCartney practices an optimistic, energetic kind of fashion, but Resort really brings out her sunny side. It’s so persuasive that the rain clouds that lingered over New York for the better part of a week broke temporarily for her Elizabeth Street garden party last night. The theme was Cuba; stilt walkers, Latin dancers, and a slew of celebs from Lorne Michaels to Liv Tyler provided the Instagram moments. The money shot, though, was the quartet of models frolicking in McCartney’s citrus-hued, ankle-grazing trapeze dresses. You couldn’t have found a woman in the crowd who didn’t want to be them, or at least look like that for a night. Tailored shirts that descended into sarong-style wraps—as short as the trapeze dresses were long—caught some of that beachy, summery magic. One corner of the garden was devoted to McCartney’s florals. The English blooms, as she described them, decorated not just sundresses short and long, but more unexpectedly a navy blue pantsuit. Even the more masculine elements here maintained a certain whimsy factor. A lifelong rider, McCartney covered another pantsuit in a bold, allover horse print. Asymmetric, drapey lapels will give less extroverted types a new reason to add some SMcC tailoring to their closets.