PARIS — You can’t stop Mother Nature. At last week’s Première Vision, clean, simple looks were the main focus for the spring 2007 season. Some felt it was a sign that things will be looking up, business-wise.
“It seems that when the industry is not doing so well, fabrics are loaded with embellishments in a very overwhelming way,” said Lionel Monjo, general manager of Alphalace, a mill known for its embroidered and beaded lace. “Now, simpler looks are more popular, and I think that signifies an uptick in business.” His bestsellers? Classic Chantilly styles and heavier cotton laces. “These are fabrics that are beautiful today, were beautiful 10 years ago and will be beautiful in 20 years,” Monjo said.
Designers were feeling the move toward an easy mood, too, but many emphasized that the look was not minimal. “It’s definitely natural, but still very textural,” said Francisco Costa, creative director of the women’s collection at Calvin Klein, adding that the textures, while always present, were quiet and mostly tonal. His color palette for the season was subtle. “I’m really interested in porcelain blue, as well as a light cement gray,” he said.
“Now, I think it’s time for a more simple kind of pretty,” said Bonnie Young, senior creative director at Donna Karan. Young was particularly inspired by the naive looks she saw at Swiss and French embroidery houses. “The feeling is definitely more natural, and the overall thing I’m liking is a look that’s less pretentious but still expensive.”
Andrew Gn felt the push toward organic looks. “There’s definitely an ecological atmosphere, something that’s been missing for some time,” he said. “Natural fibers are more important than ever — linen and cotton will rule the season.” Textures, he added, are “back in full strength.” Gn especially liked linen and cotton blends, pointing out one he saw that was lacquered to give it a slight technical feel.
For Peter Som, textures were also key. “My customer won’t buy something from me that’s too basic,” he offered. For the spring season, Som plans to move away from bouclé tweeds in favor of the idea of burlap, but in a refined way. “Slubby yarns are looking fresh to me; things that are artisanal and rustic but still clean.”
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“I think, after so much embellishment, there is a real cleansing period that’s going on right now,” said Chellis Stoddard, design assistant at Tuleh. “Prints are not as bold as before and are largely monochromatic. There’s definitely less attention to pattern and more of a focus on solids.” Color, too, was changing, she said. “I’m seeing a lot of soft yellow and gray, as well as tomato red.”
Mills were showing clean looks in full force. Riccheri used nettle — a fiber that’s similar to ramie or linen — in many of its new selections for the season. “Last spring, there was a lot of viscose, but this season, there is only a little, mostly for drape,” said designer Stefano Vannucchi. At Linton Tweeds, rustic, tonal tweeds in silk or cotton blends were especially important, while at Mahlia, a mill known for over-the-top looks, a quieter mood pervaded the collection. There, raffia-like yarns were used in a variety of looks including one that showed an eyelash-like feature in black.
Even plain fabrics had something special. At Taroni, a structured silk fabric featured a heavy sueded hand, while at Lyria, a cotton and Inox blend was slightly crinkled on one side and had a velvet finish on the other. “I really loved this collection,” Yigal Azrouël said of Lyria. “It was organic and clean, but featured interesting textures and beautiful washed looks that were more polished than casual.”
Knits took the same route in a variety of jerseys in natural fibers, the strongest of which was linen. At Jackytex, soft, sheer linens were seen, while at Guigou, introductions included a bamboo and rayon blend and a silk and linen blend.
When embellishment and print turned up, they were subtle and mostly tonal. At Picchi, a dotted or striped jacquard design gave a decorative touch to a silk-blend chiffon, while at Mantero, a cloqué in silk featured a graphic floral print in deep purple. Even Bucol, known for its acid-like brights, went back to nature with a collection of faint prints on neutrally toned cotton voile.
Jakob Schlaepfer showed geometric jacquards in tonal colors, lightly decorated with clear sequins. At Luigi Verga, richly patterned looks included a beige silk blend with a silver zigzag-like foil, and at Canepa, tonal jacquards abounded, especially in ivory. Hurel also lightened its touch. A silk-and-rayon devoré in copper, black and white looked almost shredded. Finally, at Weisbrod, a mill known for its novelties, whimsical, two-toned patterns included a butter yellow-and-ivory jacquard of bees and a navy-and-white matelassé that featured propeller fans.