For fall, Stella McCartney entered the season’s discussion about pragmatic sensuality, especially as it applies to day clothes. There was a sense of exhale, of letting go, of examining whether a woman can reveal her sensual side, embracing innate rather than pat ease while still dressing in ways that work.
McCartney’s conclusion: a resounding yes. An engaging sophistication permeated the collection in which she both pushed and relaxed her specific parameters of feminine-masculine plays and deftly manipulated classics. Thick-knit sweater dresses worked on a slant and half open at the side over languid underpinnings bared an arm, a shoulder, a glimpse of leg. Bustiers in lightweight wools delivered discreet allure, matching trousers and long-sleeved shirts.
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McCartney loves her Savile Row references and here delivered them with new femininity. Even at her most streamlined, she incorporated ladylike flourish: charming godets punctuating the hems of cropped pants under a chic belted coat; mannish tweeds turned a shade gentle but unfussy in coats and dresses cut lean through the waist before erupting into a swing of handkerchief points. The graceful ease continued for evening as McCartney made seemingly casual use of lush metallic jacquards and brocades, incorporating swirling insets into ivory dresses for a lovely, quietly sexy effect.
Lovelier still: her fab no-fur furs. After much consideration, McCartney introduced the idea for pre-fall and continued it here. The coats looked great and indicated not a shift in her thought process — she remains vehemently antifur — but growth in her problem-solving acumen. Her process is not unlike those faced daily by her constituency of working women, which is why she relates so well to their needs.